Air quality in guangzhou

impart prize in guangzhou1. IntroductionGuangzhou, the capital city of Guangdong Province , is going to hold the sixteenth Asian Games in November 2010. Athletes and couches coming from 45 countries and regions will get off the groundicipate in the Asian Games which last for more than two weeks. Strongly competent as a host city (Table 1), Guangzhou is famous for its natural scenario of Baiyun Mountain and pull together River, for its food and beverages, and for an enjoyable livelihoodstyle. Thanks to the tear downt, Guangzhou is now under the spotlight and attracts even more attention from both home and abroad. Table 1 speedily facts of Guangzhou (Guangzhou International 2009) Name Guangzhou /LocationSouthern ChinaClimate sheathSubtropical monsoon climateArea7263 km2Population (registered residents, 2008)7.8 millionGDP per capita (2008)11,696 USDHowever, on that point is still suspicion about the communication channel lineament of Guangzhou. Whether it disregard sufficie ntly manage the puzzle bloodline taint re main(prenominal)s a concern. In 1970s-1980s, manufacturing industry served as an important driver for the development of Guangzhou. Nowadays, exhaust accelerator pedal of machines has become the major source of urban bank line contamination (He 2009). As a result, atmospheric contaminant is not a new problem for the city. To tackle this problem, the municipal political relation has adopted a series of approaches. It denote to invest 600 million RMB (88 million USD) to lever a total of 2.4 gazillion RMB deep down two socio-economic classs to tackle sort pollution, and 123 factories were travel or shut down in 2009 because of their heavy pollution to the ancestry. (Yuan 2009) Most importantly, the government issued a three-year plan (2008-2010) with detailed, quantified criteria and clearly delimit responsibility is to coordinate incorporated action to reduce air pollution (Guangzhou Municipality 2008). In such context, thi s wrap up attempts to review and analyze the recent present of air pollution in Guangzhou, as well as to evaluate its wellness impact on charitable. In the end, the make-up seeks to assess Guangzhous capability hold the Asian Games with right air quality.2. denudate defilement in GuangzhouThe following figure (Fig. 2) summarizes the state of air in Guangzhou for the last ten years. From 2000, severity of air pollution began to increase, and reached its peak around 2004. Since then, air condition in Guangzhou started to improve and became ofttimes better recently. According to a recent analysis (PRDAIR 2009), most part of Guangzhou has reached Grade II in terms of Regional Air case Index, or RAQI (Fig. 3), which means concentration of all pollutants are generally within Grade 2 of National Ambient Air lineament Standards. billhook several entropy points for 2000 and 2009 are missing here due to inavailableness. Considering the representativeness and accessibility of data, this handle choose SO2, NO2 and respirable hang particulates (PM10 or RSP) as main indicators for air pollution in Guangzhou. Thanks to the citys environmental protection website which reports atmospheric discipline and data since 2000 (GZEP 2010), enough though not abundant data substructure be achieved and traced back to specific observe piazzas in the city. It should be knowd that unlike the PRDAIR research result above, the air quality data here are recorded in terms of Air Pollution Index (API), which is based on absolute concentration (e.g. mg/m3). Among these 10 monitoring stations, locations of five of them can be identified in unrestricted online mapping system (Google Maps). Considering that the Asian Games is going to be held in November, the report selected monthly average air quality data for November from 2000 to 2009, and present them with station mapping information SO2. Strong policies gather in greatly reduced SO2 waiver, in particular restricting poli cies on heavy industry factories. One most palpable example is that 147 polluting firms in the old city centre had been either moved or shut down from 1998 to 2005. In addition, public and private investments in desulphurizing facilities for factories, heating and cooking have also fall downd SO2 pollution. (Zhou 2008) By the year of 2009, SO2 concentration monitored at all the five stations are at a lower place 50, which reaches Grade II regarding the national air quality grading system. NO2. step-down in NO2 emission is less crucial than that of SO2. In Guangzhou, exhaust of automobile is the main source of NO2 emission (Zhou 2008). Despite the policy which completely bans cycle from entering central urban area since 2007 (Guangzhou Municipality 2004), NO2 concentration increased again in 2009 after a short-run drop in 2008. constraining motorbikes has not contributed much to overall NO2 reduction, because people enjoying an increasing income may flip-flop from motorbike s to cars. Moreover, emission from local industry is not controlled as strictly as that of SO2 emission, which also offset the effect of motorbike ban. (Zhou 2008) PM10. Pollution of suspended particulates is telling severe. Even the lowest average level monitored (at Station 4) is above 50. PM10 is a secondary pollutant, and its generation can be traced back to automobile exhausts and industrial activities in the city (He 2009). In 2009, count of days with haze for the start half of year was 96, while for the second half was 14. It is believed that this abrupt decrease is related to aftermath of global financial crisisreduced manufacturing activity and logistics activity. though level of PM10 pollution in Guangzhou is lower than many Asian cities (GZEP 2010 ADB 2006), it is as high as three times of the road map standard of mankind Health Organization (WHO 2006). In fact, PM10 is closely related to respiratory unhealthinesss, which is among main concerns of public health in Gua ngzhou. Its impact on human health will be examined in the next section.3. Health Impact of Air PollutionOn average, one person takes in 15 m3 of air per day (He 2009). Clean air is thus essential to human health. By 2008, annual average concentrations of NO2 and PM10 have both exceeded the WHO air quality guideline level, and PM10 concentration is somewhat above WHOs interim target (GZEP 2010 WHO 2006). According to data from GZEP (2010), PM10 is the major pollutant of air pollution. Moreover, it has the primary health impact on human respiratory organs. A study shows that the harm done by pollution of particulates on body is comparable to that by cigarette smoking (ALA 2009). This susceptibility contribute to the fact that rate of lung cancer has not significantly decreased although rate of cigarette smoking in Guangzhou is largely reduced (He 2009). In the short-term, pollution of particulates can be severe, or even death. Besides spit up and wheezing, asthma and dysfunction of lung may also be caused by motion picture to particulate pollution. Previous researches have strengthened the relation between short-term to many public health problems. Hong et al. (2002) observe a positive pertain between increased PM concentration and stroke mortality in Seoul, Korea. Another research in Gaoxiong, Taiwan also implies the relation of particulate pollution with occurrence of strokes (Tsai et al. 2003). Long-term, or chronic exposure to particulate pollutants has significant health impact. According to Pope (2000), long-term particulate pollution can result in one to three years of human life shortening. Health impact of chronic air pollution can be seen in many ways in everyday life of Cantonese people, oddly in elder Cantonese people. Lung cancer has become a common disease in Guangzhou. In 2008, Dr. Nanshan Zhong, director of Guangzhou Institute of Respiratory Disease, discovered through and through operations that lungs of Cantonese above 50 years old were usually forbidding, even if they did not have lung diseases (He 2009). but one needs to notice that this phenomenon is related to previous rather than present status of air quality in Guangzhou, because it is common only in the above-50 age group.4. Conclusion effect for the Asian Lungs? Venues and infrastructure are world built. Personnel and volunteers are being trained or have al cause start working. Guangzhou is definitely making an effort to welcome the quests for Asian Games. But whether the air in Guangzhou is ready for the Games remains unclear. On one hand, the problem of air pollution in Guangzhou have caused severe public health problem, and does not have a simple solution. Past research also shows that air quality is worse in winter and spring than in summer and autumn (PRDAIR 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009). These have all given rise to health concern and may potentially undermine the 16th Asian Games. However, on the other hand, environmental monitoring data indica te that air quality in Guangzhou is improving, and Guangzhou Municipality has implemented a strict air quality management plan with clearly demulctd responsibility for specific departments. It is also considering some of the successful strategies taken in Beijing Olympic Games 2008. (Guangzhou Municipality 2008) Judging from previous successful experience of SO2 emission reduction and Olympic Games, the new implementation plan seems promising. Therefore, it is still herculean to determine whether Guangzhou will be able to manage its air quality to a satisfactory level and provide the Asian Games with clean air. But regarding the governments strong will to tackle air pollution, it is possible that air pollution could be managed for the Asian Games, but it is highly likely that most of the pollution reduction would be temporary rather than sustainable, and air pollution would slightly rebound after the Asian Games.ReferencesAmerican Lung Association (ALA). 2009. State of the Air 200 9. New York Hard Copy Printing. Asian Development Bank (ADB). 2006. urban Air Quality Management Summary of Country/City tax write-off business relationships across Asia. Philippines Asian Development Bank. 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Stroke 2003(34) 2612-2616. World Health Organization (WHO). 2006. WHO Air Quality Guidelines for Particulate Matter, Ozone, atomic number 7 Dioxide and Sulphur Dioxide (Global Update 2005). Switzerland WHO. Yuan, D. 2009. Guang zhou tou 6 yi zhi kong qi wu ran Guangzhou invests 600 million against air pollution. Nanfang Daily, 6 Jul 2009. The RAQI, used by governments of Guangdong and Hong Kong to jointly report regional air quality, is a composite indicator for measuring the aggregate level of SO2, NO2, ozone and respirable suspended particulates (PM10). The higher the ability value, the higher the regional air pollution levels. The index value is in positive relation to the higher the regional air pollution levels. (PRDAIR 2008)