Foreign demand for goods adds to air blight_美文

Foreign demand for goods adds to air blight

Download

Manufacturing goods in China for export contributes significantly to the country's severe air pollution problem, a recent study showed.

The research, conducted by nine Chinese and international scholars, showed that in a sample year, 2006, about 36 percent of sulfur dioxide, 27 percent of nitrogen oxides and 22 percent of carbon monoxide that was emitted by human activities came from economic processes related to exports.

And 21 percent of those emissions were tied to China's exports to the United States. The same year, 23 to 34 percent of sulfate particulate concentrations in East China were tied to export-related emissions.

"Consumption, production and pollution are related. Production of goods is to supply consumption, and at the same time it leads to pollution. We want to look at air pollution from a consumption perspective, as an alternative to the previous production-based view," said Lin Jintai, lead author of the paper and professor at Peking University.

Looking at emissions from the perspective of where goods are consumed helps elaborate the roles of different countries in global air pollutant emissions and transport, Lin said.

"We hope our study can shed some light on how China and other countries can better understand each other and strengthen cooperation in fighting against pollution," Lin said.