China’s Greenest and Most Polluted City Tackling Air Pollu9on in Baoding Vishnu Nair, Manjekar Budhai, Joshua Chu, Jason Yu — Macaulay Honors College at the City College of New York Instructor: Dr. Angelo Lampousis, Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, City College of New York, City University of New York MEET BAODING CURRENT SOLUTIONS CHALLENGES TO REMEDIATION Located about 100 miles southwest of the Chinese capital of Beijing is the city of The Chinese government has taken steps over the years to remediate the polluJon in However, there are many challenges we must overcome, they include: Baoding. A city of 11 million people, Baoding has a rich history. It was destroyed by Baoding, they include: • A cyclic socioeconomic problem: Baoding is an economically troubled area that is the Mongols in the 13th century and then rebuilt aer the establishment of the Yuan • The closing down of tradiJonal factories.12 dependent on tradiJonal industries. Therefore, by closing down these tradiJonal Dynasty. It was during this Jme that the city acquired the name “Baoding,” which • The issuing of measures that require beger regional air-quality planning and factories, Baoding’s economy will be set to take a nosedive.5 roughly translates into “protecJng the capital,” due to its close proximity to Beijing. specific polluJon-reducJon targets.4 • Government: We are not sure if the Chinese federal, provincial, and local It was also, at a point in Jme, the capital of Hebei province and was even occupied by • The implementaon of “low-carbon pilot zones,” that were set up to clean up governments will be open to the change we propose. For one, we are proposing Japan during the Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945).6 Baoding is known for originang “dirty” industries.10 tax breaks that translate into a loss of money for the government. In addiJon, it is “Baoding Balls” (which are similar to stress balls) and is also known for its specialty However, these steps have proven to be ineffecJve in remediang the situaon.11 possible that the owners of these tradiJonal factories have some influence with “donkey burgers.”2 the government. Baoding's 2013 Gross DomesJc Product Breakdown • The Chinese government also has a history of censorship when it comes to educang ciJzens on the dangers of polluJon.7 Renewable Energy Service • Baoding in Ambivalence: We are dealing with a city that is both green AND 20% 32% polluted. It is possible that many see these turbine factories and think that Baoding is in an environmentally excellent posiJon. • When asked the quesJon, “What do you think of Baoding’s current TradiJonal Industry condiJon?” many people from Baoding will respond by saying that they do ▲ Baoding’s locaon in China (leH) and the enJre city of Baoding (right, outlined in red). and ConstrucJon Agriculture not see anything wrong with the city and that the city is as clean as it can be.5 (Source: Google Maps) 35% 13% THE PROBLEM WITH BAODING However, beneath Baoding’s rich culture lies a serious problem: air polluJon. In February of 2015, the Chinese Ministry of Environmental ProtecJon declared Source: aqicn.org Total GDP (RMB billion): 265.06 Baoding the most air-polluted city in China.3 This is in contrast to just a few years back in 2011 when Business Insider called Baoding “The Greenest City in the World.”8 It houses some of the biggest manufacturers of blades for wind turbine generators in OUR PROPOSED SOLUTIONS China as well as the largest manufacturer of photovoltaic cells in the enJre world, We propose a mulJ-faceted approach to remediang the situaon in Baoding. Our Yingli Solar. This polluJon has garnered a bad reputaon for Baoding, which is oHen general approach calls for clean/renewable energy companies to buy up tradiJonal 5 factories and do one of the following: blamed for “airpocalypses” (bouts of heavy polluJon) in nearby Beijing. ▲ Forecasted PM2.5 Levels in Northeastern China (as of November 19, 2015). (Source: aqicn.org) Baoding’s polluJon stems from several problems which include: • Clean up abandoned factories/sites and put them to beger use. AQI Air PolluJon Level Health Implicaons 0-50 Good Air quality is considered sasfactory, and air polluJon poses ligle or no risk. • The presence of tradiJonal factories that manufacture for “dirty” industries (e.g. • Clean up the current output of tradiJonal/modern factories. 51-100 Moderate Air quality is acceptable. Pollutants may pose a slight health risk for very sensiJve groups. 11 car, cement, and steel manufacturing). However, in order to go ahead with such an approach, we must convince three 101-150 Mildly Unhealthy Members of sensiJve groups will experience health effects. • The use of coal-fired steam boilers.1 151-200 Unhealthy Everyone may begin to experience health effects. groups: the renewable energy companies, the Chinese government, and the people 201-300 Very Unhealthy Health warnings of emergency condiJons. The enJre populaon is more likely to be affected. • The misuse of closed-down, abandoned factories (e.g. for burning garbage).11 of Baoding. 300+ Hazardous Health alert: everyone may experience more serious health effects. ▲ • Provide cleanup incenJves for renewable energy companies, these include: Air Quality Index Legend (Source: aqicn.org) • Offering tax breaks for these companies. REFERENCES ▲ PM2.5 and PM10 levels over a 5-day period (November 14 to November 19). (Source: aqicn.org) • Making them aware of the influx of workers aer buying up exisJng factories. 1. 4% of Chinese ciJes report clean air. (2014, March 26). China Daily USA. Retrieved 6. Encyclopaedia Britannica. (2010). Baoding (China). In Encyclopaedia Britannica. • Offering beer governmental contracts November 22, 2015, from hgp://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-03/26/ 7. FlorCruz, M. (2015, March 9). Why Did China Ban 'Under The Dome'? Retrieved content_17380202.htm November 22, 2015, from hgp://www.ibJmes.com/pulse/why-did-china-ban-under- 2. Chen, T. (2015, February 2). China's New Most Polluted City: Baoding. Retrieved dome-watch-documentary-compared-inconvenient-truth-here-1840642 • Awareness of eventual improvements in internaonal appeal & domesJc November 22, 2015, from hgp://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealJme/2015/02/02/say- 8. Johnson, R. (2011, June 23). Welcome To Baoding: The Greenest City In The World. HEALTH RISKS FROM POLLUTION hello-to-chinas-new-most-polluted-city-baoding/ Retrieved November 22, 2015, from hgp://www.businessinsider.com/baoding- public image. 3. China names 10 most polluted ciJes. (2015, February 2). China Daily USA. Retrieved greenest-carbon-posiJve-city-in-the-world-2011-6 November 22, 2015, from hgp://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-02/02/ 9. Kampa M., Castanas E., (2008, January). Human health effects of air polluJon. Prolonged exposure to pollutants in the air can lead to many health problems. They • content_19466412.htm Environmental Pollu;on, Volume 151(Issue 2), pages 362-367. hgp://dx.doi.org/ Take a similar approach with the Chinese government. 4. China passes new polluJon law, sets sights on coal consumpJon cap. (2015, August 10.1016/j.envpol.2007.06.012. 9 29). Reuters. Retrieved November 22, 2015, from hgp://www.reuters.com/arJcle/ include: 5 10. Qureshi AM, M. (2009, May 5). Low carbon zones: Road to a green future. China • Currently, the whole world sees China as an extremely polluted country. 2015/08/29/us-china-polluJon-idUSKCN0QY08A20150829#mUp1QdFcmYbTwOcE. Daily. 97 • Upper respiratory irritaon 11. Stanway, D. (2014, May 13). PolluJon plagues China's Baoding despite bid to clean Cleaning up Baoding would make internaonal news and improve China’s 5. Duggan, J. (2015, May 22). Welcome to Baoding, China's most polluted city. The up act. Retrieved November 22, 2015, from hgp://www.reuters.com/arJcle/ Guardian (US Edion). Retrieved November 22, 2015, from hgp:// 2014/05/13/us-china-environment-baoding- • Chronic respiratory and heart diseases image to the rest of the world. Doing so would also cement China’s posiJon www.theguardian.com/ciJes/2015/may/22/baoding-china-most-polluted-city-air- idUSKBN0DT21Z20140513#pkRD6JsctTAwbFk.97 polluon-beijing-hebei • Lung cancer in the world as one of the leaders in environmental cleanup. 12. The cost of clean air. (2015, February 7). The Economist. • Acute respiratory infecJons • Educate the ciJzens of Baoding: • Chronic bronchis • On the negave health effects of hazardous air polluJon. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS • Aggravaon of exisJng condiJons • About the influx of jobs that would result from the arrival of these clean/ We would like to thank our instructor, Dr. Angelo Lampousis, for his most helpful • Asthma renewable energy companies in Baoding. advising. Likewise, we would also like to thank our fellow MHC 20301 classmates for • Reduced life expectancy ▲ Garbage being burned in the outskirts of their criJcal analyses of our poster. Baoding. (Photo by: China Stringer Network/Reuters) .