Above is a picture taken of eastern city of Lianyungang. The sheer size of this country means it will take along time for it to reduce the pollution considerably.
The severity of air pollution in China is extreme. In man cities the level of pollution in the air often reaches above levels that are to be hazardous and many experts have worries about the devastation of health for those who live there and the countries longevity.
One of the issues here is that the residents in China have simply become used to the environment they live it, rather than be shocked and appalled at what they see when they open their front door, they simply put on a facemask and go on their way to work or school. Here lies one of the main problems - they do not see it as a problem as such, they are used to it.
But in the last year or so China has decided that they should do something about their carbon footprint, and the government have already put in place, plans to close the polluting factories and start investing in renewable energy sources.
But there is hope! A city in the north of China, Shanxi, once declared as one of the highest polluted cities, because of the huge production and use of coal. But no longer is this the case, research has shown that the air quality in the city has improved dramatically, thankfully to the efforts from the government between 2001 and 2010, they also found the healthcare costs had reduced and the health of the locals had improved.
This all happened because the government took responsibility and cracked down on the toxic and hazardous materials, shutting down pollution factories, became stricter on emissions and reduced energy consumption. As a result of this the number of young deaths fell more than 50% over the 10 year period.
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/china-toxic-air-pollution-nuclear-winter-scientists
http://world.time.com/2013/12/06/chinas-eastern-coast-blanketed-in-toxic-haze/
http://www.greenpeace.org/eastasia/campaigns/toxics/
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