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| With and without smog! |
Beijing China has long been known to have bad air pollution as does some other large urban centers like Los Angeles but Paris? Common it's the city of love not smog. Read the following two articles and answer this:
1) Why is this happening in these densely populated cities?
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| The daily commute to work...gross |
2) Why did it get to this point? Couldn't they have done something sooner? They must have seen this coming?
3) How does this affect us in Canada?
4) What can we do about it?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/france-curbs-paris-car-drivers-to-combat-dangerous-smog-1.2574747
This is my post for the week
ReplyDeleteIt is crazy to think of how bad the smog and pollution is in other countries considering the dangers of it. Part of the reason for this extreme smog issue in Paris is because there is an abundance of private drivers. Another reason for all the smog which isn't helping the issue is extreme hot weather and humidity. In China the main reason for this issue is cars which produce a lot of emission and factories as well. I believe that these countries did see this coming because it says Paris had a restriction in cars in 1997 which only lasted one day which shoes they had an idea about this issue but did not go to great measures to fix it. In China they may have not been able to fix this sooner because the article mentions it is difficult to stop pollution when companies are so convinced they want to use methods that pollute because it is cheaper. It is mind blowing that they could not have found a way to fix this sooner or realized this was happening because it is well known that China is a big polluting country. This affects us in Canada because since we use many cars and factories etc the same problem (excessive smog) could be happening soon to us as well if we don't take preventative measures. Some options to control large amounts of smog would be to restrict use of cars in certain areas, and reduce emissions from factories, or take similar measures to Paris and China's.
Here is my source: http://www.angelfire.com/scifi2/chemsmog/page3.html
I knew that China was one of the top nations responsible for pollution but I never quite anticipated that it had come to this. I agree with you Julia! I think it'd be in our best interest if we look into changing our ways for the better so we don't end up with an excessive amount of smog like China.
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ReplyDeleteAs we live near Toronto, I found it very interesting to read about how serious a city’s / country’s smog can become. Toronto as we know, has many days in the summer that are declared a health hazard for those living in the city to go outside, but to hear that Paris and China have both now made laws to decrease their PM (particles per square meter) is intriguing.
In Paris, just over a week ago, the smog reached more than twice the safe limit. This is crazy to think as smog worsens in warm weather, and summer has yet to come. Paris now is limiting the drivers on the roads by their license numbers, alternating the days that they are allowed to drive. There has been some opposition to the government in how they will police the new law and that they may have just released it to please the Green Party, but I think that no matter what their true motives were the law cannot hurt the air quality. If the smog is twice the safe limit the country can only benefit from the initiative.
For China, the smog is affecting more than just the one city, and has reached over the 16 times the safe limit recently. China has implicated restrictions on factory emissions, coal, and high-emission cars to increase the air quality of its country by 2050. China faces opposition as well, but for China their air quality is affecting their economy as well. Many of the country’s senior executives have moved due to the air quality, there is concern over their crops as the smog is blocking some of the sunlight, and the tourism sector is feeling it too. When I was researching I found that insurance companies are creating plans where when the air quality is dangerous for much of your trip you can be reimbursed, and even some of the bigger companies are offering their executives a hardship allowance to encourage them to stay.
This issue does affect us in Canada too. The news reports say that over time this smog will spread, reaching all the way to California. What can we as a country do? I think that we should offer China and France any help we can in order to support them in their efforts to decrease the smog.
The sources I used are: http://www.economist.com/blogs/charlemagne/2014/03/car-ban-french-capital
and http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/19/us-china-pollution-survey-idUSBREA2I0KU20140319 (for China)
Awesome post Ruth! that's crazy and kinda sad that insurance company's can provide that now, but I guess that's what it has come to unfortunately.
DeleteThis is my post for the week.
ReplyDeleteAir pollution is one of the largest environmental issues that we face today. It is becoming increasingly worse and there for action is being taken. Firstly, in Paris, I believe they are on the right track with limiting the days that people can drive, but on the other hand there are many loop holes and its also very easy to disobey the law. The idea of providing free public transit and green transportation is an excellent and positive way to persuade people to take part in reducing pollution! Secondly, I feel that china's situation is much more severe because they have a large population that wants to live the same lifestyle as North Americans. China needs to not only punish those who pollute allot, but also provide incentive to those who are on the right track and polluting less. In Canada we are blessed with a huge geographical area and small population, this allows us to pollute allot and not have these issues. This does NOT mean we should continue on this path because we don't want to end up in the same situation as China and Paris, we should take action now and solve the problem before it becomes a bigger threat. There are some small actions being taken such as the BIXI system in Toronto where you can pick up a bike at one location and drop it off at your destination, also many company and businesses are starting to provide electric changing stations for electric vehicles. We also have government incentives for hybrid and electric vehicles to encourage people to chose a greener and more environmentally friendly options. some areas we could improve on in my opinion would be public transit and urban planning, where we design city's where vehicles are not even needed to get people where they want to go.
Great points Michael! I completely agree with your points that we need to take action now, rather than when it is too late. We do have some good things in place now in canada. for example TTC busses are mostly hybrids, which is good for constant stop and go city driving. some things that could be worked on is that china needs to increase their environmental impact policies and crack down on pollution laws.
DeleteGood post :)
I agree with you completely Michael. Similar to Breandan I think we need to really crack down now. Pollution seems to only be getting worse and if we don't do something to slow it or stop it soon then we could end up with a whole world of smog (not to mention the thousands of other negative effects). The every-other-day law is a start but, like you said, not really the solution. You seem to have some pretty good ideas, maybe you should write them a letter to kickstart things a little :p
Deletesources:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.mto.gov.on.ca/english/dandv/vehicle/electric/electric-vehicles.shtml
https://toronto.bixi.com/ride-with-bixi/functioning
This is my weekly post;
ReplyDeleteI personally think this is horrifying, because air is crucial for life and clearly humans still have yet to grasp that. We literally NEED air, so why arent people taking this issue more seriousley? It would be so simple to ban diesel vehicles, or to force all factories into being as eco friendly as possible. Yes it will be annoying and costly but i dont think we have a choice anymore. There is only ONE earth after all.
I feel like polititions and environmentalists definitley knew about this issue considering Paris' government tried controlling the numbers of cars on the roads back in 1997. Tthey had to know it would happen again especially considering how poor the air quality has gotten since then. I feel they should have adressed this issue years ago because it has affected China's economy so greatly. Crops are in danger, many important buisness people have moved due to the poor air quality, and their tourism rates have lowered. Not to mention what it is doing to the environment, such as poisining animals and polluting soil and water.
This affects Canada as well, due to the reports that smog is said to reach as far as California, which makes it seem like it wont take long until it gets to us too. As a country i believe we should offer whatever financial, or scientific help that we possibey can, because although it is not affecting us right now, it will in the future.
I believe something major has to be done so that we can salvage what is left of our earth.
Here is my source; http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-25576716
Great post Samira! I certainly agree that the people that foresaw this issue should have acted upon it sooner. It's getting really frustrating to see so many environmental issues that could have been avoided if the experts actually DID SOMETHING. I guess all they can do now is correct and learn from these mistakes.
ReplyDeleteYeah I completely agree with you and everyone else as well. I'm sure they saw this coming and if i have to one day live in a place where i feel the need to buy bottled fresh air like some places over there do i will not be impressed. Like you said, we all need air to live! We really need to work harder to try and prevent or prolong such terrible air conditions in Canada. Great post :)
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