Acknowledgement:

I would like to thank our course instructor Joel Hawkes.His guidance and lectures made it easier
to write of this research paper. Besides, I had interviews with some of my friends. Their view
was invaluable in doing the primary research.
Abstract:
Overall, the research paper is about the effect of air pollution on China’s economy, health and its
possible solutions. The dissertation is divided into ten parts. The first part is the introduction,
which a general overview of the topic-“Air pollution: The case of China.” The second part gives
some fundamentals knowledge about air pollution. The next three parts discuss the area of
research, methodology and hypothesis. After that the most essential part of the research paper is
presented: secondary research findings and interpretation. Finally, based on the findings,
recommendations and conclusion is written off. Throughout the dissertation, MLA style citation
has been used.

Table of contents:

Topic Page number

Introduction 3

Fundamentals of Air pollution 3-4

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Area of Research 5

Methodology 5

Hypothesis 5

Research Analysis and Interpretation 5-8

Conclusion 8

Work cited 9

Introduction:
According to Vallero, air pollution is “the presence of contaminants or pollutant substances in
the air that interfere with human health or welfare, or produce other harmful environmental
effects.”(3)
The above statement is indeed true in case of China. The presence of harmful particles in air such
as nitrous dioxide has increased a lot in the last decade there (Bump). The increased rate of air
pollution has caused severe health and economic losses to China. According to a scientific data,
air pollution has caused 1.2 million premature deaths in China, which is two-fifth of global total
(Wong).Another data from the World Bank mentions that out of 338 monitored cities in
China,225 are overly polluted(qtd. In Ho and Nielson 13).
The economic damage to China due to air pollution is also significant. Due to large number of
health damages, China incurred an economy loss of 4112 billion in the year 2005(Ekstrom).

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Therefore, it is essential to establish some policies keep China a flourished country in terms of
health and economy. One of them is “green” taxes. Green taxes can lessen harmful emissions
and thus cut health damages. In the long run it will improve economic growth (Ho and Nielson
1).
Fundamentals of Air Pollution:
Before discussing air pollution, let’s know what clean air is. Clean air does not consist of
harmful particles like nitrous oxide and carbon-mono-oxide. Due to burning of fossil fuels,
industrial wastages overuse of fuel run cars, ignition of forest more harmful particles are emitted
in air. Thus air becomes polluted (Miller and Willard 6, 11).
In the book “Fundamentals of Air Pollution”, Vallero mentioned the following sources of air
pollution (314):

 Industrial sources: Industries that manufactures raw materials and convert products to
other products e.g. gasoline from crude oil, automobile bodies from steel etc.
 Utilities: Examples include – coal fired electric generating plant, poorly designed sewage
treatment plant.
 Personal sources: Examples include automobiles, home fireplaces and stoves, backyard
barbecue grills etc.
 Combustion: It is the rapid reaction of a chemical substance with oxygen which produces
many air pollutants such as oxides of sulfur, metal oxides, fly ash, metal salts etc.
 Petroleum and coal: In the process of obtaining petroleum from coal hydrocarbons and
sulfur gaseous emissions occur. By the way, coal itself is considered the worst fuels for
the production of greenhouse gases.

The short term effects of air pollution are many, such as: health damage, vegetation damage, acid
rain etc. The long term effect is global climate change. Earth has already began facing climate
changes. The amount of CO2 has skyrocketed by 25% since 1850, mentions Vallero, he also says
that “the average temperature of the earth is difficult to measure, but most measurements show a
very small overall change that would not be detectable due to short term and regional variations
(442).

Green house gases

Halocarbons
Nitrous oxide
34% 15%
Methane
Carbon dioxide
146% 48%

Figure: The pie-chart above shows contribution of well mixed greenhouse gases(Vallero 447).If
the emissions of such gases can be controlled, then global green house effect can be minimized.

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Area of research:
This dissertation paper mainly focus on the air pollution of China.
Methodology:
Secondary research was conducted to write off the dissertation. The sources used are:

 Three books
 Three online news articles
 One academic articles
 Three You-tube videos
 An online published interview with China’s deputy minister
Hypothesis:
Secondary research is made on the following topics:

 Air pollution is causing large number of health damages in China.

 Air pollution is putting a dent in China’s economy.
 Establishing green taxes or carbon credit systems might be the solution of the above two
problems.
Research Analysis and interpretation:
China’s air pollution is rising rapidly due to the fast growth of population, resulting in an adverse
affect on health (Kira, Nam, Selin, Lamsal, Reilly and Paltsev).According to some research, air
pollution is the leading cause of respiratory disease there. Particulates such as nitrous dioxide,
sulfur dioxide and PM 10 are in high concentrations in many cities of China (Nielson and Ho 1;
Wong).There are many sources causing this pollution. They are burgeoning transportation sector,
residential heating, and light industry-most of it is produced by power plants and heavy industry.
The level of TSP in residential areas is 200, however, 90 is considered the safe zone according to
World Health Organization (Nielson and Ho 1).A news report mentions that air pollution
resulted in 350,000 to 400,000 premature deaths in China each year. Another study by Organic
for Economic Cooperation and Development predicted that urban air pollution will be cause
about 3.6 million deaths in China each year in future (Wong). Therefore, it is a major concern for
China and proper steps should be taken to stop it.
Some YouTube videos from BBC news present some hazardous conditions of some cities in
China. One scene of a video shows that people using medicines to clean their food from polluted
particles in the village of Linfen, which is considered as the most polluted place on earth. A
similar other video from BBC indicates that coal combustion is the main to blame for this huge
air pollution. As the reporter says, “Try not to take a deep breath in the village of Goregaon, as it
might end up making you ill or even kill you.”This statement clearly indicates how bad the
situation is there (Protectorravids and Vice).
YouTube also have some Chinese media videos telling about the condition there: One news
report by NTD says that air pollution responsible for huge number of deaths each year. It is also
responsible for economic losses of about $1.08 billion in the year 2012.PM 2.5 particles, which

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is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter, are considered as the most harmful one. Most of these
particles come from burning coal. When inhaled these particles can cause many diseases like
lung cancer, tuberculosis etc.If these particles could be lowered in China, death rate will be
lowered by 81% and economic losses will be reduced by $868 million(NTDonChina).
Though China’s economy is developing but the rate of growth could be faster if pollutants level
could be lowered. As the health of people is affected, productivity is also affected, so in the long
run, economy declines (Ekstrom).As in an interview, the China’s deputy minister Yue says that it
is losing between 8 and 15 % of GDP due to pollution, excluding the costs for health (Spiegel).
Hence, policies should be imposed to keep the GDP growth in flow and prevent health damages.
According to Ho and Nielson, “imposing moderate taxes on fuels could reduce health damages
by 11%, while lowering gross domestic product (GDP) only by less than 0.1% and aggregate
consumption by 0.1% in the short run. Several policies can be imposed (332). The effective ways
are discussed below:
Green taxes such as output tax policy and fuel tax policy can be established. Research is made
and it is found that in the first year: the fuel tax policy raises the price of coal by 13 %, leading to
increased use of cleaner oil and gases as a source of energy. So the amount emissions of PM and
SO2 fall by 10% ,CO2 by 9.1%5 and Nitrous dioxide by 0.9%.Whereas,the output tax policy is
imposed heavily on electricity, modestly on mineral products, transportation and a small tax on
transportation. As a result coal combustion falls by 3.9%, PM concentration in air fall by 3.8%
and SO2 concentration go down by 4.7 %( Cao, Ho and Jargenson 15, 16).
According to research, the effect of both the polices on environment and economy in year 1 is
tabulated below:

Fuel tax policy % Output tax policy %

GDP -0.12 -0.01
Consumption -0.17 -0.29
Investment 0.18 0.46
Coal Use -12.0 -3.9
Oil use -0.38 -0.84
CO2 emissions -9.1 -3.1
TSP from combustion -10.3 -3.8
SO2 emissions -10.3 -4.7
Nitrous dioxide emissions -0.85 -1.8
Premature emissions -9.3 -2.9
Value of health damages -9.1 -3.1
Change in other tax rates -2.1 -7.2
Reduction in damages/GDP 0.15 0.05
Total tax revenue 1.83 7.16

From the table above, we can see that fuel tax policy is more effective at decreasing health
damages, premature deaths and maintain a healthy fluctuation of GDP. Hence, tax on fuels based
on their ecological reimbursement is a very efficient system, as it reduces pollution significantly
and at modest cost to consumption.
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Conclusion:
According to various secondary sources, it can be finally concluded that air pollution is a big
concern for China.PM, SO2, and nitrous dioxide are the main intoxicated particles found in the
air of China. They mainly come from the combustion of coal. Coal is a major energy source of
China. And its economy relies heavily on it. Till now, China is focusing more on its economy
growth than its environmental issues. However, if it continues to do so, in the long run its
economy will be affected tremendously. Because many people there are losing their health and
even dying prematurely. As productivity of people decline due to environmental issues, the rate
of economy growth is actually slower. Therefore, by implementing green tax polices health and
economic damages can be cut significantly.

Works Cited (MLA Style):

Bump, Philip.”China’s deadly air pollution is already up 30% this year.”The Atlantic Wire. The
Atlantic Wire, 3 April .2013.Web. 3rd June.2013.
Cao, Jing, Mun S. Ho and Dale W.Jorgenson.”The Local and Global Benefits of Green Tax
Policies in China” Oxford Journals 3.2 (2009): n.pag.Web.4th June 2013.
Ekstrom, Vicki.”China’s pollution put a dent in its economy.”MIT news.MIT News, 13
February .2012.Web. 3rd June.2013.
Ho S,,Mun and Nielsen P., Chris, ed. Clearing the Air: The Health and Economic Damages of
Air Pollution in China. London: The MIT press Cambridge, 2007. Print.
NTDonChina.”Air Pollution in China Causes Thousands of Deaths in Major Cities.”
Spiegel.Spiegel, 2010.Web. 4th June 2013.

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Ponting, Clive. A New Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great
Civilizations.USA: Penguin Books, 2007.Print.
Protectterravids.”China’s Massive Air Pollution – BBC News.”Online video clip.
YouTube.Youtube, January 5.2010.Web.4th June 2013.
Vallero, Daniel. Fundamentals of Air Pollution. London: Elsevier, 2008. Print.
Vice.”The Devastating Effects of Pollution in China-Part 1.” Online video clip. YouTube.
YouTube, December 13.2012.Web.4th June 2013.
Wong, Edward.”Air pollution linked to 1, 2 million premature deaths in China.”The New York
Times. The New York Times, 1 April .2013.Web. 3rd June.2013.