Air Pollution
Monitoring & Management
in China
Successful Precedents
Air pollution has accompanied industrial development for half a century. Economy always thrives at the cost of the environment, and even the well-being of its residents and neighboring surroundings. It’s not surprising thereof China has to face serious pollution challenges. Fortunately, there were successful precedents in which large-scale pollution had been abated. Three famous example cases of pollution management are referred in this section.
CASE I. Thick cloud in Donora town, Pennsylvania – 1948
The five-day air pollution caused by industrial emission and unusual air inversion was listed on The New York Times as “one of the worst air pollution disasters in the nation’s history”. Cough and respiratory distress among residents later turned into asthma that finally claimed 20 lives. Approximately a third to one half of the town’s population had been sickened due to the lingering yellowish smog. Toxic particles emitted by industries were trapped near ground by aloft warmer air. And the density of compounded poisonous air increased sharply in that short period of time. Rain on the fifth day eventually diluted the smog and disperse accumulated fog ahead.
Two prominent actions were taken during the crisis that significantly reduced potential damages of the severe smog. First, people in charge focused primarily on public health at the burst of pollution. It was the Chief of the local Fire Department that led his team to help residents by responding calls, depleted their supply of oxygen and borrowed more from nearby municipalities to meet local demands. Second, non-government organization played a significant role in coordinating sources and related forces. During the first three days of the crisis, neither Red Cross nor town officials took an instant response addressing the crisis. Instead, doctors from the Local Medical Association acted immediately by making house calls and treating patients in need.
In the aftermath of such acute pollution, mortality rate among neighborhood remained abnormally high for over a decade. But the incident has been credited for promoting the Clean Air Act 1970 – the first nationwide regulations on environmental protection in America. Also, local zinc works as well as steel factories were supervised by the government with stricter environmental regulations.
Lesson learned number one: people always matter the most. Among numerous examples is the Cater Racing case, in which racers had to consult with mechanics the night before the match and decided whether to participate under predicted extreme weather condition with a fairly poor record of the racing car’s performance in that season. Regardless of huge bonuses and million-dollar sponsorship with the victory, the safety of racers came first in making the decision. All the other benefits would be invalid if the supposed claimers people are incapable of collecting them. Lesson number two, public force serves as a powerful substitute of authority in face of dealing with crisis. The first reactor of an emergency is usually not the official but ordinary people. It’s desirable that the administrative force joined immediately, but the resiliency of a society imbedded in a collective cognition among the public, that the massive could decisively take the responsibility in the absent authorities at the beginning of a crisis.
CASE III. Vehicle Pollution in Los Angeles -- 1960s-70s
Since the debut of smog in 1940s, Los Angeles has been fighting against air pollution under the eye of the whole country. Increasing emission of industrial fumes, burning smoke and automobile exhausts, along with local commercial interest groups’ efforts in keeping the business, an eye-stinging smog appeared and lingered over the LA basin area. Local authorities first acted passively in imposing limitation on the promising military industry due to huge benefits. Residents were aggravated. They accused the government of dedicating to development simply by bringing more people to LA instead of taking decent care of people who had already lived in the area. In front of public wrath and national query, the LA Chamber of Commerce initiated a campaign to combat air pollution and sponsored a serious research on the causes of pollution, whose results showed surprisingly that the automobile industry should took major liabilities. Control over air pollution thereupon transferred from local authorities to federal government as well as the powerful automobile industry.
Despite the fact that auto moguls first denied their responsibilities and then complained about expensive cost to change, progress was made by both manufacturers and general public. The first automotive emissions control technology in America - positive crankcase ventilation - was mandated by the California Motor Vehicle State Bureau of Air Sanitation in 1961. Management on petroleum as well as vigorous encouragement on zero-emission cars was conduct actively by local bureaus. Advancements in the automotive realm, traffic management techniques and infrastructure design, and improvements made to fuels along with new fuel blends were detectable in the past three decades.
Except for technical support, government officials artfully coordinate with public and industries in the process of pollution control. Rigorous academic research on the damages of air pollution on people’s health was introduced to the public. Also, the pile of researches provided a solid ground for new laws and regulations on air pollutions. The California Air Resources Board communicated with industries and media as an impetus to facilitate the implementation of related public policies.
Satisfyingly, air quality in L.A. has significantly improved in the past 30 years. Inspiring results are obvious as mountains around are now eyeable and the pungent smog no longer exists. Statistically, for instance, level of the volatile organic compounds - the concentration of air pollution – decreases at the annual rate of 7.5%, and has reached a stunning 2% of that compared to 1960s. Nevertheless, L.A. is still not fully in compliance with EPA standards. Along with London and a Chinese city called Linfen, L.A. was nominated one of the nine most polluted cities in the world by Huffington Post in 2011.
L.A. case serves as an example of controlling air pollution under meteorological conditions and a large number of pollution sources. It’s inevitably a long-term and difficult task. Resolution of both authorities and the public is essential during the urgent period, in that, crisis so to speak. Then, persistent efforts and cooperation are in demand in carrying out policies. Moreover, California spends annually hundreds of millions of dollars in pollution control considering benefits of public health, blossom of tourism and investment environment.
CASE II. “Killer Fog” in London, UK – 1952
The unprecedented denser fog lingering on the greater London area for five days (accidentally same with Donora example, a potential perspective of future research on acute air pollution crises) between December 5th to 9th in 1952 was known as the “Great Smog of ‘52”, or the “London Smog”. In spite of the foggy custom of London back in 1950s, the thick fog consisting of vehicle exhaust from diesel-fuelled buses which had just replaced the electric-powered system and high volume of soot, claimed 4,000 people by the third day of the pollution, most of whom were either young or elder with pre-existing respiratory illness. Compiled reports later estimated the total fatalities at considerably greater than 12,000, and 100,000 people got sick with their respiratory tract. Same as Donora pollution, the Great Smog ended by the rains which dispersed the tarry particles and diluted the acid sooty grime which made eyes and nostrils smart in open area.
The Great Smog, surprisingly, didn’t instill panic among the public during the crisis. Residents being used to the foggy weather might accounted for, in part, the massive calmness. While, it was the well-organized operation of public service that led London people to survive the lethal crisis and to thrive again. Because the stagnant “pea soupers” was so heavy, driving and even walking became impossible for visibility during day time once remained unbelievably only one meter. Buses and ambulances were forced to cease, except for the subway services, which ensured at least minimum function of public transportation for emergent incidents. Loud booms were played near railways line to warn pedestrians of the coming trains. All outdoor activities were postponed.
With regard to authoritative response, a series of Acts of regulations were issued within 20 years after the 1952 smog to reduce air pollution, in particular, to restrict the burning of coal - the major component of the fog was soot. The deadly black smog was later completely banned by Parliament’s two Clear Air Acts. All power plants in London were shut down and moved to the outskirts area. Moreover, financial incentives were provided to households to abandon coal and adopt gas alternative for fires. It was efficient because the excessive use of coal resulted from, besides the unusual cold weather, the low price during post-war period. In addition, researchers from various domains, including respiratory medicine, environmental study, hospital management, health insurance and etc., conduct in-depth analysis on the Great Smog crisis and made developments respectively. For instance, one joint study detected new indicators of sickness caused by acute exposure to air pollution by reassessing the London Fog crisis.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia “1948 Donora Smog” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Donora_smog#cite_note-NYTMuseum-1
2. Donora Smog Website at http://www.donorasmog.com/
3. Wikipedia “Great Smog” at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog
4. Michelle L. Bell and Devra L. Davis, Reassessment of the Lethal London Fog of 1952: Novel Indicators of Acute and Chronic Consequences of Acute Exposure to Air Pollution, Environmental Health Perspective, Vol 109, June 2001, p389. Retrieved from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1240556/pdf/ehp109s-000389.pdf
5. Hexun News, How did London Control the Air Pollution, Jan 15, 2013, at http://news.hexun.com/2013-02-20/151262195.html
6. Steve Jinang, Beijing Adopts Emergency Mearsures for ‘Hazardous’ Polluton, CNN, Jan 16, 2013, at http://www.cnn.com/2013/01/14/world/asia/china-smog-blanket
7. Sarah S. Elkind, Los Angeles and the History of Air Pollution, UNC Press Blog, http://uncpressblog.com/2012/02/23/sarah-s-elkind-los-angeles-and-the-history-of-air-pollution/
