Suffocating the Public

Pollution has plagued this planet for centuries, but only recently have we taken notice of horrific effects. Pollution is responsible for countless deaths of not only humans, but animals and plants alike. In china, the air pollution levels reached record highs in the last couple years, and the people noticed. If nothing is changed immediately, China will continue to experience the costly repercussions of pollution.

    Due to the Chinese burning coal as their primary source of energy, the air quality has decreased dramatically. Pollution has reached unprecedented levels and china pays the price by losing 1.6 million citizens every year due to air pollution (qz.com). The Chinese need to understand the benefits of environmental regulations, despite taking a loss in economic profits. They will be able to live healthier, longer lives by practicing environmental sustainability. Sustaining profits should not mean jeopardizing your citizens. The world should look towards China as a model of the extreme consequences of letting pollution run rampant. China should be the motivation that countries need to help reason environmental regulations. Ultimately, it is a worldly issue. We all live on the same planet, and we will all face the consequences of knowingly destroying our planet. The world needs to be able to recognize the blatant signs of environmental change and to take measures to avoid environmental disasters, such as China. China’s biggest mistake was not addressing the issues of pollution when they first began to see the effects. To continue to exponentially grow their economy, the Chinese government opted to ignore the glaring signs of environmental deterioration. Now that the citizens are experiencing the ramifications of the pollution, people like Dr. Zhao Xiaogang have started to speak out. Dr. Xiaogang is a lung surgeon, who treats more patients than ever due to the horrific air conditions, wrote a poem about the effects he has personally seen. As enough people voice their concerns, it has begun to force the government to change, but not at a rate fast enough to make serious change any time soon.