Now that large
swathes of China are frequently
shrouded in smog people may no
longer believe that it is a
sporadic extreme weather condition that
befalls certain regions.
A
National Development and Reform Commission
report, published on Thursday, lends
credence to the contention by saying
that a quarter of the Chinese
mainland has been shrouded in and
some 600 million people have been
affected by smog since the beginning
of this year. Citing Beijing as
an example, the report says that
in January the capital experienced
only five days which met the
grade-II weather standard.
The
pressure of economic downturn and
increasing industrial energy and electricity
consumption, however, pose a tough
challenge to China's energy
conservation and emission reduction efforts,
the NDRC warned.
In these
times of economic difficulties, there
is a worrisome possibility that the
government will loosen supervision of
energy conservation to ensure economic
growth. The NDRC report says that
from January to May, China's
industries consumed more than 1.1 billion
tons of standard coal, a year-on-year
increase of 2.98 percent. It also says
that the country's energy consumption
per unit of GDP fell by 5.5
percent in the first two years
of the 12th Five-Year Plan period
(2011-15), achieving only 32.7 percent of
the five-year target, 7.3 percentage points
lower than required.
But
preference for economic growth and
going slow on efforts for energy
conservation and emission reduction will
exacerbate air pollution.
If
unchecked, air pollution will become a
more potent public health hazard.
According to a recent study conducted
by researchers from China, Israel and
the US on pollution and mortality
in China's 90 cities between 1981 and
2000, the average lifespan of 500 million
people living north of the Huaihe
River is 5.5 years shorter than their
compatriots in the south because the
region burns coal to provide people
heating in winter. The accuracy of
the study may be in doubt, but
the increasing number of respiratory
diseases in the north shows that
smog and pollution have indeed
affected people's
health.
Economic growth is for
the benefit of the people, but
it has to be compromised, if
not altogether sacrificed, when it
starts harming the very same
people.
