The air quality in northeastern China drastically decreased, forcing the government to impose stricter regulations against companies. (Photo : Reuters)
Attaining the air quality during the country’s hosting of the 2008 Beijing Olympics can prevent people in the country from acquiring cardiovascular disease (CVD).
According to a study, reducing air pollution in the country’s urban areas could save almost 900,000 people from dying due to CVD by 2030, reported China.org.
Death attributed to coronary heart disease (CHD) could be “prevented in the next 15 years.” It could also reduce death caused by cerebrovascular disease or stroke, a type of CVD, by 2.7 percent.
Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), the U.S. affiliate of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War, said in its report that “air pollutants contribute to serious, even fatal damage to the cardiovascular system.”
Headquartered in Washington, D.C., PSR received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1985.
A study reveals that air pollution kills “1.4 million people a year” in the country, according to the Associated Press.
Lauri Myllyvirta, a Greenpeace advocate, told the Associated Press that in terms of air quality, “the fall from 2014 to 2015” has “definitely been a very exceptional year” because of the “widespread reductions” in pollutants in some regions in the country.
The cold weather brought about by winter, however, prompted people to regularly rely on heating devices. Coal-burning heating systems contribute to air pollution.
In Liaoning Province alone, the air quality index (AQI) in 14 cities received a rating of over 300, reported Daily Mail Online.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), an agency of the U.S. federal government, developed the AQI “to provide accurate, timely, and easily understandable information about daily levels of air pollution.”
EPA describes AQI as “an index for reporting daily air quality. It tells you how clean or polluted your air is, and what associated health effects might be a concern for you.”
When the AQI is in the range of 201 to 300, the air quality conditions are “Very Unhealthy.” If it is in the range of 301 to 500, air quality is “Hazardous.”
People in the streets can be seen wearing a protective mask, apparently aware of the harmful effects of air pollution. One man in Shenyang City was even photographed by People’s Daily Online wearing a gas mask.
