Expat view: Dealing with pollution at home

Curb pollution before it's too late

Air pollution has many disastrous effects that need to be curbed. In order to accomplish this, governments, scientists and environmentalists are using or testing a variety of methods aimed at reducing pollution.

There are two main types of pollution control.

Input control involves preventing a problem before it occurs, or at least limiting the effects the process will produce.

Five major input control methods exist. People may try to restrict population growth, use less energy, improve energy efficiency, reduce waste, and move to non-polluting renewable forms of energy production. Also, automobile-produced pollution can be decreased with highly beneficial results.

Output control, the opposite method, seeks to fix the problems caused by air pollution. This usually means cleaning up an area that has been damaged by pollution.

Input controls are usually more effective than output controls. Output controls are also more expensive, making them less desirable to taxpayers and polluting industries.

Current air pollution control efforts are not all highly effective in China. China needs a dramatic reduction in coal usage and to strictly regulate the city traffic pollution in the bigger cities.

The Chinese government needs to hire experts in this field and set up new regulations, and put them to work before it becomes a major health issue.

Gooddog from Canada