Huge Drop in Chinese Birth Defects After Local Coal Plant Closes

tongliang china children photo

In a sign of things that might have been, Chinese children born after the closure of a local coal plant have found themselves with 60% less development problems such as motor skill coordination than those born prior to the closing.

For with all the efforts by the Chinese government to clean up places like Beijing for the Olympics, there’s no denying that there are plenty of other places that could use the help.

Of course, the plant that was closed in Tongliang lacked basic pollution control equipment to limit the emission of pollutants like carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxide and particulate matter.

And newer coal-fired plants in China are being built to do just that. But it’s definitely worthwhile to pause for a moment and consider how far we’ve come in the battle for air quality and pollution control as we contemplate the challenges posed by the need to regulate carbon emissions, and what they mean for our future.

via: The Green Blog

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