A Picture is Worth... Air Pollution in China
by Jeremy Elton Jacquot, Los Angeles 
on 02.11.08
This image, which was captured by NASA's Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (i.e. SeaWiFS), dates back to January 2, 2000; it shows a layer of polluted air covering a large portion of southeastern China. The increased use of fossil fuels is largely to blame for the opaque haze. Given that China now tops the U.S. in total greenhouse gas emissions, just imagine what a satellite picture of the region would look like now...
Via ::Econbrowser: China's air pollution (blog)
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Don't have to imagine, it shows up almost daily in the NASA MODIS Terra/Aqua imagery when it's not covered in clouds.
Here's some past MODIS images.
January 10, 2008 - Haze in Eastern China:
http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2008-01-10
November 13, 2007 - Haze Over Eastern China:
http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2007-11-13
October 24, 2007 - Haze over Eastern China:
http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2007-10-24
August 20, 2007 - Haze in Eastern China:
http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2007-08-20
July 6, 2007 - Haze over Eastern China:
http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2007-07-06
Pollution and smog across Central China:
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=6516
I know other countries pollute too, but most don't continuously look like whole country is burning tires...
It just makes you wonder what the same imager will make America look like.
On the smog tinged bright side the pollution is helping combat global warming by reflecting the sunlight. Should China clean up the pollution, like America did, global warming would be greatly accelerated. Either way it's a lose-lose situation.
humans are a lose lose situation
It is a nightmare. I just wrote a short opinion piece about the effects of the solar panel industry on rural China. The article is based on a recent story in the Washington Post and my interview with a Chinese writer.
This is a tragedy.
Jim
Nearly nothing but novels: fiction and crime fiction book reviews
Chemistry for a sustainable world
OMG THEY R SOOO SILLY
In this world of marvelous minds and careless humans we all should note that nature has a way of dealing with the overpopulation of any one species. We have reached that point. This earth cannot continue to support our greedy and stupid lust for more and more. It makes one wander just what action nature will take to correct the lopsided balance of human existance.
Signed, just me.
instead of complaining about it, saying how bad this is and that is, i want to find a place for solutions, a place where we can exchange ideas on how things can be fixed, how things can be solved. or is this our way of taking action nowadays?
The powers that be will allow no change to occur. They are what needs to change. It will likely take violent revolution to do so.
We have had the technology for a long time to support true equality and independence. Think about why they wont let this occur. If we were independent and lived in a sustainable way they would lose all power.
How can China's air pollution be fixed ?
How about we stop talking about it, and take some responsability for causing such a big problem with out world? We need to take action. It's not just China, Its everybody! Everybody takes the worlds fossil fuels for granite. Why are the young kids/ tennagers held reponsable in America, When its not just America is everybody!
Here is a solution to China's polution problem. How about we start buying products that are made in the US, where strict regulations for pollution are already in place? Or how about we lobby our government to put the same regulations contigent on anything that is shipped into the US for sale?? It is up to us the largest consumer of useless things to put a stop to all useless clutter that we buy from China to put our foot down and say enough is enough!!