Fighting Acid Rain

Erin Lankford
12:30 AM
October 29, 2010

The world’s largest stone Buddha, located in China, is slowly disintegrating after 1,200 years of existence. Acid rain is the culprit for the damage done to this statue. The image that stands for peace now showcases the results of pollution. Burning coal and oil for energy releases sulfur and nitrogen dioxide into the atmosphere and the result is acid rain. The amount of damage that acid rain creates is extensive, destroying farmland, bodies of water, buildings, and the health of humans. Across southeast China this is a large problem and yet it has garnered little international media attention. For several years efforts had been made to cut the levels of sulfur dioxide but were not met with success. Recently there has been progress and may show that China is able to manage industrial pollution. In an attempt to gain control over the pollution small coal-fired plants were closed by the government if they were unable to make upgrades and larger plants were required to install equipment that monitors emissions. With the government keeping an eye on factories it is less likely that corners will be cut and more likely that appropriate protocol will be taken to keep emissions down. While acid rain is still a problem in many cities in China at least the proper steps are being taken to manage the causing factors.

It is a positive step that Chinese governments have intervened by making industrious sites record toxic emissions that cause so much damage to the environment. By the government enforcing regulations it shows that there is concern for the general health of the public. Even though there is still the chance that factories will not follow regulations at least there was a step made in the right direction. The after math of the acid rain has a great impact on the densely populated area. It is wise to try and eliminate this problem since the population is so high, and the risk of losing farmland and aquatic ecosystem services impacts everyone. When I read that smaller, less lucrative companies were shut down since they lacked the funds to make updates I thought it was unfortunate that those people had to lose their jobs. I suppose in the big picture though it was the proper step to take if there were no funds to provide them to make the alterations. Shutting down the high polluters shows concern for the greater good of protecting air quality, rather than cutting corners and allowing the pollution to continue.

http://e360.yale.edu/feature/china_takes_first_steps_in_the_fight_against_acid_rain/2333/