ISSUE PAPER

GREENHOUSE GASES EMISSION IN CHINA

Let’s make the earth a better place to live in…... but, then again are we making the earth a better

place to live in? Our thoughts say one thing but then again, our actions portray another. To

makes lives easier we tend to harm the one place we get our resources from. Many factors can be

pinpointed when it comes to harming the environment, we live in. One that can be seen in many

parts of the world is the emission of Greenhouse gases. What are greenhouse gases? Greenhouse

gases are a type of gas that traps heat in the atmosphere of the earth. On a daily 24-hour cycle on

earth, it can be seen that during the day the sun emits light that naturally causes the earth’s

surface to heat up and, by night the process of cooling down takes place where the heat on the

surface is let out back into the air. A portion of that heat is trapped due to greenhouse gas. This

does not allow the earth’s surface to cool down properly. Carbon Dioxide (CO2), Methane

(CH4), Nitrous Oxide (N2O) are a few examples of greenhouse gases. These gases can be

formed or emitted due to many humanly performed factors such as deforestation, also known as

the cutting down of trees, the burning of oil used in motor vehicles, coal burning in factories, and

blast furnaces used to produce iron and steel. The emission of greenhouse gases can be seen

around the world in many countries but, not as transparently as in the land of China. China is

located on the western shores of the Pacific Ocean, stated on the eastern side of Asia. China is

the world’s largest contributor to the emission of greenhouse gas, with major causes of emission

such as the burning of coils in the industry sector and the burning of oil in motor vehicles in the

transport sector. These causes affect not only the increase in air pollution that bring a decrease in

many health-related issues but also in risen temperature

There is no doubt that the emission of greenhouse gases is spread widely worldwide. Countries

situated in America, Africa Asia, and even Europe all take part in the blame for the emission of

these greenhouse gasses. The one place that stands out the most and that is visibly increasing its

contribution to the emission of such harmful gases that cause many problems to arise in the

world is China. China has by far the largest spread of greenhouse gases. China is the world's

largest emitter of carbon dioxide as it emitted almost 10 billion metric tons of emission back in

2019. China gets its main souse of CO2 emission through the burning of different fossil fuels to

narrow it down its emission mostly comes from the burning of coal. Nearly 60% of the total

energy China had generated came from the burning of coal, and because coal is rich in carbon,

burning it in industrial and power plants and boilers emits a huge amount of CO2 into the

atmosphere. For China, coal has been an important source of domestic energy consumption for

decades. More than 72% of the electricity generated in China in 2015 comes from coal-fired

power plants, and coal is a major source of household CO2 emissions. China credits its

flourishing economy to coal, whether back in the past or the present. China continues to build

coal-fired power plants at speeds that exceed the combined speeds of the rest of the world. In

2020, China commissioned a new 38.4-gigawatt coal-fired power plant. This is more than three

times what was connected to the grid elsewhere. China has promised that emissions will peak

around 2030, peaking at 12.9 billion to 14.7 billion tons of carbon dioxide annually over the

next decade. It means that they are producing a large amount of CO2. Levels, according to

Climate Action Tracker analysis.

Another major cause of greenhouse gas emission in China is found in the motor and transport

sector. China is one of the largest importers of oil and contributes to large amounts of CO2

emissions through the use of automobiles. China is overpopulated making it the most populated
country in the world, so it comes as no surprise that it would have a major number of motor

vehicles in the country as well. There was an estimate of over 300 million cars in China back in

2009. With the use of cars comes the use of oil. Cars run on the burning of oil. The burning of

oil is what causes the emission of greenhouse gas. When gasoline vaporizes it generates many

greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, and even unburned hydrocarbons. If

an estimate of 300 million motor vehicles is used in one country, then we can already assume

how many tones of greenhouse gas they would produce in a day. The rise in the intensity levels

use by motor vehicles has a strong influence on the emission of CO2 and other greenhouse

gases.

Such mass emission of greenhouse gases has highly unreversible effects. One of them is the

pollution that it creates. Greenhouse gases that are extorted from motor vehicles cause extreme

air pollution. Cars and other motor vehicles have an exhaust system, which can produce almost

six types of emissions. Of those six emissions, three are toxic emissions. CO2, NO2, NO. These

trapped chemicals can cause many different types of medical health issues. Some include

strokes, cancer, various respiratory diseases, and heart diseases. In 2017 PCR (Polymerase

Chain Reaction) estimated a round-up of 1.24 million people dying because of emission

exposure to air. “Too much of the Chinese Communist Party’s economy is built on willful

disregard for air, land, and water quality,” Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo said in

August. “The Chinese people — and the world — deserve better.” Air pollution in China is

causing significant negative health effects. The issue is fueled by China’s transition to an aging

society with a climbing population of elders characterized by the great physiological and social

vulnerability. Despite the existing investigation on the health effect of air pollution, evidence in

China is lacking based on empirical ground, particularly for the elderly (Liu, B. (2019) Health
Effects of Air Pollution: Evidence from China. Low Carbon Economy, 10, 81-101). Air

pollution in China has gradually become severe and the causes turned to be complicated in the

past three decades. The problem of air pollution in China was first observed in the 1970s with

industrial emissions of SO2 and particulate matter. In the 1980s, acid rain caused by SO2 from

coal combustion was detected in major cities in the north of China (Zhang, Liu, Li, and Li, B.

(2014). In 2014, air pollution took fourth position in leading risk factors. Elderly age groups are

seen being the most affected by this due to the development of respiratory problems.

Another major effect that is formed by the emission of greenhouse gas is the trapping of gases,

which leads to the rise in temperature. This is mainly due to the enormous amount of emissions

made by the industrial sector. China has experienced noticeable changes in climate over the past

100 years (National Development and Reform Commission 2007). Although emissions per

person in China are at the global average, China surpassed the United States as the country

emitting the most carbon dioxide (CO2) in 2007 (International Energy Agency 2009). The

annual average air temperature has risen by 0.5–0.8°C, which is slightly higher than the average

global temperature increase, and most of these changes have been observed over the past 50

years. Regional distribution of temperature changes shows that the warming trend was more

significant in western, eastern, and northern China than in southern China. Seasonal distribution

of the temperature changes shows that the most significant temperature increase occurred in

winter. The trend of climate warming in China is projected to intensify in the future (Haidong

Kan, Environ Health Prospect. 2011). Typhoons, floods, blizzards, windstorms, drought, and

landslides are among the extreme weather occurrences that trapped greenhouse gases may bring

to China. The direct and indirect health consequences of these catastrophic events are

significant, although they are impossible to quantify at this time. Tapped gases in northwest
China raise forest belt limitations and pest and disease frequencies, reduce frozen earth regions,

and threaten to reduce glacier areas. Ecosystem vulnerability may arise as a result of future

trapped gases.

Greenhouse gas emission is a worldwide issue. An issue that can transparently be seen in China.

Having major causes such as the burning of coal in the industrial sector and the burning of oil in

the transport sector. Such emission causes many dreadful effects not only on the environment

but also on human health. It contributes to the decreasing health of humans through the

emission of poisonous gases and by different environmental factors regarding the weather due

to the trapped gases in the air causing heated atmospheric pressure. These causes can be limited

by taking precautions and by shifting gear to more environmentally friendly options. For now,

china needs t find ways to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases to prevent future casualties.
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