Report: Chinese Pollution Tied To U.S. Exports Is Degrading Air Quality In Western States

We have been following the worsening pollution crisis in China, but a new report shows how the Chinese government’s rejection of basic environmental protections is degrading the environment of the world. Western states, particularly California, are finding their air quality reduced dramatically by Chinese pollution. A recent study documents adds an interesting twist: calculating the percentage of Chinese pollution tied to exports to the United States. It suggests that we are outsourcing industrial productions and getting the resulting pollution from the Western side of the country.

A new study in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found Chinese pollution related to exports contribute up to 12% to 24% of daily sulfate concentrations in Western states.

Sulfate concentrations, ozone and carbon monoxide are all up and attributed to the Chinese exportation of pollution with its cheaper products. The greatest concern is black carbon which is linked to asthma as well as diseases such as cancer, emphysema, and heart and lung disease.

Some 21% of export-related emissions from China in these targeted areas came from exports to the United States.

China’s massive increase in coal-burning power plants is a great contributor.

The beneficiary of the shift is the Eastern states, but those cheap Chinese goods from China are arriving in a cloud of industrial pollution for the United States.

Source: CNN