What is the main cause of air pollution in China?
What is the main cause of air pollution in China?
Coal is the leading culprit of air pollution in China. 75% of the premature deaths are caused by the 152 coal-fired power plants in Hebei Province. Air pollution will remain a serious problem in China as long as coal continues to be the country’s major energy source.
Why is China’s pollution so high?
The immense urban growth of Chinese cities substantially increases the need for consumer goods, vehicles and energy. This in turn increases the burning of fossil fuels, resulting in smog.
What are the three harmful effects of air pollution?
Long-term health effects from air pollution include heart disease, lung cancer, and respiratory diseases such as emphysema. Air pollution can also cause long-term damage to people’s nerves, brain, kidneys, liver, and other organs. Some scientists suspect air pollutants cause birth defects.
What are some possible effects from breathing in highly polluted air?
Long-term exposure to polluted air can have permanent health effects such as:
- Accelerated aging of the lungs.
- Loss of lung capacity and decreased lung function.
- Development of diseases such as asthma, bronchitis, emphysema, and possibly cancer.
- Shortened life span.
What kind of diseases are caused by air pollution?
Air pollution is the cause and aggravating factor of many respiratory diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (11,12), asthma (12,13), and lung cancer (14,15).
What is the main causes of air pollution?
Air pollution is caused by solid and liquid particles and certain gases that are suspended in the air. These particles and gases can come from car and truck exhaust, factories, dust, pollen, mold spores, volcanoes and wildfires.
What can pollution cause to humans?
Short term exposure to air pollution can irritate the eyes, nose and throat and cause upper respiratory infections, headaches, nausea and allergic reactions. Long-term exposures can lead to chronic respiratory disease, lung cancer, and heart disease.
How long has air pollution been a problem on Earth?
Before the Industrial Revolution, our planet’s atmosphere was still untainted by human-made pollutants. At least, that’s what scientists thought until recently, when bubbles trapped in Greenland’s ice revealed that we began emitting greenhouse gases at least 2,000 years ago.
How many animals are killed from pollution?
The Problem: Over 1 million marine animals (including mammals, fish, sharks, turtles, and birds) are killed each year due to plastic debris in the ocean (UNESCO Facts & Figures on Marine Pollution). Currently, it is estimated that there are 100 million tons of plastic in oceans around the world.
How many animals die from eating plastic?
How many marine animals die each year from pollution and plastic? 100 million marine animals die each year from plastic waste alone. 100,000 marine animals die from getting entangled in plastic yearly – this is just the creatures we find!