For any society to function properly there needs to be measures taken to keep it healthy.  The air one breathes is something that effects everyone, and the individual cannot control the quality of air they breathe.  Having clean air to breath is a human right, and it is the responsibly of those in power to keep it clean.  In Beijing, the levels of pollution are well above the rate of being considered healthy to breathe.  At times, this pollution becomes so intense that the people of Beijing need to wear masks to avoid developing respiratory diseases.  The smog generally comes in waves, and when they are big enough, it can halt the lives of the people living in the affected area.  Despite the dangerous smog, people must carry on with their day, including children who still are made to go to school.  There has even been documentation of children taking tests outside while the smog was at its worst.  Sometimes going about daily life are made impossible with regulations set by the government; for example, not being allowed to drive one’s car, and for the many who work in factories, sometimes their factory will be shut down due to cut backs to stop pollution. The officials of Beijing go to many lengths to show that the smog is not dangerous, even though it is clearly causing discomfort and disease.  If they can prove that it is not harmful, they will have no reason to stop production, or find alternative green energy sources that will rid Beijing of smog. Though the smog is harmful to the people of Beijing, the leaders are not doing anything to fix the issue.  

Before doing extensive research about the effects of industry produced smog, one would think that thick smog just changes the color of the sky, and is a mild nuisance.  It is apparent now that smog deeply affects the safety and happiness of the residences of Beijing’s lives.  When the smog storms are thick, it is common to see Beijing citizens wearing protective breathing masks to avoid developing respiratory diseases.  This is an example of the cruel living conditions caused by heavy industry.  Though industry is great for a rapidly growing economy, Beijing must change its ways of production and manufacturing.  The people being subjected to these conditions have begun to speak out against the officials who refuse to ease on production to lessen pollution.

Angela Fritz from The Washington Post states that the levels of pollution reached an all-time high in 2015.  The air rose to more than twenty times the recommended amount of pollution that would be safe to breathe.  She also mentions that the officials of China try to blame the smog on the cold weather, for the poor will make coal fires to keep themselves warm during the winter, however the largest contributor of this unprecedented level of pollution are the coal-fired power plants. These power plants keep the homes in Beijing warm, and because the winter temperature was twenty-five degrees below normal for that time of year, the power plants burned more coal than usual.  Therefore, the smog tends to get bad during the cold weather. Though the drop in temperature did not start the smog issue, it did amplify it.  According to the Air Quality Index measurement taken by the U.S. Embassy, Beijing reached 611.  To give perspective, healthy air should never go above 100, and what would be considered “Hazardous” is 301 to 500. It is notable that the highest number listed on the index is 500.  Fritz states that levels of pollution of this magnitude “can cause premature death, aggravated asthma, irregular heartbeats, and decreased lung function.” (Fritz).  Though Beijing issued for the factories to briefly slow production, the air quality will always be bad if they rely on burning coal as an energy source.  To fix the air quality, they must rely on a cleaner source of energy.  If Beijing invests in green energy, cut backs on coal powered plants would no longer be necessary to keeping the air clean.  Though they can remedy the issue by slowing the power plants, this is not a practical fix, for the residence of Beijing still need power to live their lives.  

In Li Jianjun’s article “Heavy Fog and Smog in Beijing: A Watershed towards a Green Future” a green energy proposal is supported.  When a society’s air level and pollution is as bad as it is in Beijing, it should give the officials of China motivation to clean it up.  The only way to keep such a large and rapidly growing society continuing is to invest in green energy.  According to Jianjun, air quality affects many aspects of living that are required to be happy and healthy.  The smog causes low visibility on the roads, making it difficult to drive one’s car.  Sometimes the pollution can get so bad that the officials in Beijing will control who can drive their cars on certain days, usually depending on if their license plate begins with an even or odd number.   This is a bad fix because it stops people from working, or leaving their homes, thus slowing down the economy.  This article suggests that because of the intense smog, and because of the restrictions placed on the civilians, the government open their eyes to how big of a deal the pollution is.  The citizens have been appealing to the government for their “right to breathe,” and have asked for strong protection against air pollution that is causing them health issues.  The author brings up another point, stating that the smog has made people question the morality of quick economic growth with no regard to the environment.  The officials in China have made a promise to the people that they would be shutting down 1,200 companies that have been emitting hazardous gases into the air, but the author explains that this might not be the best move to make.  With so many companies being shut down, the cost of living is going to go up, and many people will lose their jobs because of it.  With the investment of green energy, rapid economic production would not have to be sacrificed to keep the air clean.  It is important to keep the economy in Beijing growing, for it has keeps people out of poverty, but if the government continue production with coal fires, every person, rich or poor, will be affected.  

Gerry Mullany, from The New York Times, says that the levels of PM2.5, the fine particles that cause damage to the lungs, has exceeded 190 micrograms per cubic meter during one smog storm in China.  Particles that are smaller than 10 micrometers can be very dangerous for the lungs, for they are small enough to make their way into deep parts of the lungs, and even the blood stream.  This is most dangerous for young children and the elderly, but this level of pollution is a serious health risk for the healthiest people.  According to the article, breathing in more than 150 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5 is considered unhealthy.  Many of the officials in China speak of attempting to clean the air through controlling the industry, or setting a limit to how many diesel-powered commercial vehicles are allowed on the road at one time, and these methods would work in the short run, but they are too limiting to be sustainable fixes in a rapidly growing society like China.  The best way to continue production, and keep the quality of living high and the cost low is to obtain energy through cleaner methods than the ones being used now.    

These extreme living conditions can be found in the video “China: How Beijing residents are coping with pollution.” This video has interviews with civilians from Beijing during a heavy smog storm.   The people being interviewed are usually wearing masks to protect their lungs from the harmful pollution. The people say that they try to keep from going outside as much as possible in fear of damaging their bodies.  Something that the viewer will notice is that many people have electronic air testers that are constantly turned on.  The viewer can spot them in businesses, as well as in homes.  This shows a real fear that people living in these conditions have.  It shows how hard it is to escape from breathing dirty air. There is a real possibility that the dirty air can breech their home, and it could make them sick without them noticing.  It is notable that the pollution has a psychological effect on its victims as well.  If a smog storm is happening while they are in their home, they will become concerned if they begin to feel sick, like having a head ache.   This is a standard of living that is unacceptable.  For the people living in Beijing to be happy, and to keep the economy stimulated, the officials need to invest in green energy as their main source of energy.  This way the people will no longer live in fear of becoming ill from their own air, and cut backs that will slow economic growth will be unnecessary.   

Another writer for The New York Times, Edward Wong, places the blame on steel factories for being a contributor of smog.  He says that China promised to cut steel overcapacity, but instead brought in more steel production, which resulted in a spike of air pollution in Beijing.  “The steel industry is the second biggest emitter of carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas; the first is power generation, which also relies mostly on coal.” (Wong) The extra coal being burned due to the increased steel production has had devastating effects on the environment, as well as the people living in Beijing.  Even though it has been causing problems, China has acted to keep steel companies operating to further their economy, and to support factory jobs.  The author mentions a report that shows how the local officials and state-owned enterprises have acted to keep steel companies going.  It also mentions that these increases are notable in Shanxi and Hebei, which are near Beijing, and have some of the most toxic air in the world.  Even though the officials of China promised to cut steel production by making cuts to factories, many of the cuts they made were to factories that have already stopped production, and keeping the heavily producing factories running.  Despite the officials saying that they would cut the factories, China still maintained a net increase of 36.5 million metric tons of steel.  The majority of this steel came from Hebei, Shanxi, and Tianjin.  Because of the coal fires used to power these factories, the air quality was twice as bad in 2017 as it was in 2016.  This is another example of the officials of China attempting to mislead its people into thinking that the air will get better from cut backs.  It is clear that China’s economy cannot afford to slow down, so they must invest in a new source of power that will not cause heavy pollution.  

 When the smog storms consume the city, air pollution can be a serious health risk.  Though usually children and the elderly are most affected by this sort of issue, it has gotten to a point of being dangerous to the healthiest individual.  The citizens of Beijing are the ones who truly suffer from the heavy industry, and they are the ones who are effected by the cutbacks and regulations.  The only true way to combat this is to transition into production with green energy.  Chinas economy is reliant on the massive production that takes place, so reducing it would not be a viable option.  The officials of China have promised to take measures in cutting back production, but have failed to do so thus far.  Though the government has cut production as a quick fix for extreme smog storms, but it never lasts, because doing that will always slow the economy by preventing people from making money at their jobs, or going outside to buy products. Because of this, green energy would be an effective solution to their pollution problem.  With such a populated country like china, creating people’s energy through coal fires is no longer a viable option.  Ignoring the issue and continuing production as it is would be detrimental to the environment, and to the people living in Beijing.  The officials have ignored the issue, and now the pollution seems to raise dramatically each year.  Without the use of green energy, healthy people will continue to be affected by the hazardous air, and could potentially have developing health issues, possibly resulting in an early death.  With green energy, fast growing production could continue, and the people in Beijing would thrive, being able to work their jobs, while maintaining a lower cost of living, as well as having healthy air to breath.  

A popular stance that the officials of Beijing will take is that the smog is not a man produced hazard, but a natural disaster.  Though people tend to not believe them, this is still an irresponsible notion.  In an article, written by Phil Edwards, one of the officials of China suggested that the smog was not coming from industry at all, but from smoking bacon.  As a response to this, civil servants began to raid and destroy places where meat was smoked.  This is a good show of how deeply the smog effects people’s lives.  Many people want to do something about the pollution, but often do not know what to do.  Because the smog is a product of heavy industry, no one in power wants to plan to truly rid Beijing of smog.  They will make it seem like the smog is out of everyone’s hands, so there is no use to trying to control it with cutting down on production.  This may be working for the officials of Beijing now, but this is not a sustainable option.  Eventually the people will revolt against what is really causing the smog.    

When it comes to the topic of heavy air pollution, most of us will agree that it is a generally bad thing.  Most people think of pollution being toxic to the environment, but it is also toxic to the people living in the environment.  This pollution is detrimental to those living in Beijing.  They must deal with frequent smog storms that will prevent them from going outside, or even going to work or school.   This issue is not only bad for one’s health, but being stuck at home will also slow the economy, and having to cut back on factories and stopping cars from driving on the roads will amplify that even more. In conclusion, then, as I suggested earlier, defenders of unregulated heavy industry cannot have it both ways.  Though it does stimulate the economy when production is in overdrive, these benefits will be nonexistent overall, and continuing production in such a way will cause damage that will be difficult to repair.  This damage will be directed to the people living in Beijing as well as the environment.  

 