June 2, 2014

In a major effort to curb global warming, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today unveiled proposed rules that would significantly cut carbon pollution from United States electric power plants. The rules would mandate the first nationwide reduction in carbon emissions–30 percent over 2005 levels by 2030. Currently, about 38 percent of yearly U.S. carbon emissions–some 551 million short tons (500 million metric tons)–comes from power plants, particularly those fueled by coal. According to EPA estimates, a 30-percent reduction in carbon pollution from power plants would equal the carbon emitted by two-thirds of all cars and trucks in the United States. However, energy experts noted that more than 38 billion tons (35 billion metric tons) of carbon dioxide was  emitted worldwide in 2012.

EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy said that acting on climate change was a “moral obligation.” Carbon pollution, she said, “supercharges risks not just to our health, but to our communities, our economy, and our way of life. “The administration of President Barack Obama has been under continuing pressure from environmental groups to take significant action to reduce carbon emissions since the administration failed to get a climate change bill through Congress during the president’s first term in office.

Proposed rules from the Obama administration aim to boost the production of electric power from solar farms and other renewable energy plants in order to reduce carbon emissions. (© PhotoDisc/Getty Images)

The rules face a year-long period of public comment as well as fierce legal battles from business and industry groups and political opposition in Congress and some state legislatures. Opponents of the rules have argued that they will boost electric power costs for consumers and increase business costs. The EPA estimates that the rules will cost $7.3 billion to $8.8 billion annually but will lead to economic benefits of $55 billion to $93 billion over the life of the rule. The agency also predicted that the rules will prevent 2,700 to 6,600 premature deaths and 140,000 to 150,000 asthma attacks.

Once the rules are finalized in 2015, states would have until June 2016 to submit rules for ensuring that power plants within their borders meet the emissions cuts. EPA officials stressed that coal-fired plants need not be shut down immediately. Instead, states could install new wind, solar, natural gas, or nuclear units or upgrade pollution and efficiency technology in existing plants. They could also start or join state or regional “cap and trade” programs. Under under such programs, government sets an overall limit on carbon emissions, and then states meet these targets by allowing businesses to buy and sell pollution credits. According to the EPA, even if states meet the pollution-reduction targets, about 30 percent of U.S. electric power would come from coal, compared with 40 percent today.

Additional World Book articles:

• Air pollution
• Fossil fuels
• Greenhouse effect

October 22, 2013

Air pollution in the northeast Chinese city of Harbin was literally off the chart yesterday, forcing the closure of schools, paralyzing traffic, and shutting down the airport. In parts of the city, visibility was near zero. “You can’t see your own fingers in front of you,” declared the city’s official news site.

Coal-burning plants and factories, which are common in China, produce sulfur dioxide, an air pollutant that causes acid rain and produces dangerous particulate matter in the atmosphere (© age fotostock/SuperStock).

The Harbin government reported an air quality index (AQI) score of “above 500″; 500 is the upper limit on scales used by both the Chinese government and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). By comparison, the AQI score in New York City yesterday was 41. The EPA labels any reading between 301 and 500 as “hazardous.” The standards set by the World Health Organization characterizes a score above 500 to be more than 20 times the level of particulate matter in the air deemed safe.

The China News service reported that yesterday’s PM2.5 (particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers) measurement in Harbin topped 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter. This surpassed the peak of 900 in Beijing in January in what became known as that city’s “air-pocalypse.” Health experts note that particles at a level of PM2.5 are particularly dangerous because the matter is small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.

The Harbin weather bureau blamed the pollution on a lack of wind; local farmers burning corn stalks after the harvest; vehicular emissions; and the firing up of the municipal central heating system—coal-burning boilers that provide hot-water heat to the entire city of 3.5 million. China remains heavily dependent on coal. Fully 68.4 percent of China’s energy usage is from coal, much of it high sulfur-content coal. When coal is burned, its sulfur content combines with oxygen to form sulfur dioxides. Sulfur dioxide is a pollutant gas that contributes to the production of acid rain and causes significant health problems, particularly through its role in forming particulates.

Additional World Book articles:

• The Case for Renewables (a special report)
• China 2012 (a Back in Time article)

January 15, 2012

Air pollution in China’s capital, Beijing, has for the past week greatly surpassed levels considered hazardous by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, the density of a kind of particle pollution known as PM2.5 soared to 700 micrograms per cubic meter in many parts of the city on January 12, a level considered extremely dangerous. An unofficial reading from a monitor at the United States embassy in Beijing registered levels of more than 800 micrograms per cubic meter. According to WHO standards, levels above 25 micrograms are considered unsafe. Yesterday, levels dropped to about 350 micrograms on the Beijing government scale, still dangerously high.

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, particle pollution, also known as particulate matter (PM), is a mixture of microscopic solids and liquid droplets suspended in air. PM includes such acids as nitrates and sulfates, organic chemicals, metals, soil or dust particles, and such allergens as fragments of pollen or mold spores. PM exists in a wide range of sizes. Particle pollution that is less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter–1/30th the diameter of a human hair–is known as PM2.5. Such pollution can penetrate deep into the lungs. Numerous health studies have linked PM to premature death from heart or lung disease, according to the EPA. The Beijing Shijitan Hospital reported a marked increase in the number of patients seeking treatment for asthma, chronic bronchitis, emphysema, and other respiratory illnesses associated with exposure to PM2.5.

Beijing can easily be seen in a satellite image of northeastern China made on January 3, 2013. (NASA)

Extremely heavy pollution obscures Beijing and surrounding areas in a second satellite image, made on January 14, when pollution levels were 15 times greater than the level considered “safe” by the World Health Organization. (NASA)

Fuel combustion–the burning of fossil fuels and biomass–is a major source of PM2.5. Sulfate particles form when sulfur dioxide emitted from electric power and industrial plants reacts with sunlight and water vapor in the air. Nitrate particles form in the same way from nitrogen oxides emitted by electric power plants and automobiles and other forms of combustion.

Rapid industrialization, a reliance on coal for power, and the explosive growth in car ownership has made air pollution a major problem in China. Weather conditions and the burning of coal for heating generally make conditions worse in winter. When coal, a carbon-based mineral, is burned, sulfur and nitrogen oxides are released into the air. In 2010, China was dependent on coal for nearly 80 percent of its energy and electric power output, according to the International Energy Agency.

Additional World Book articles:

• Smog
• Advances in Understanding Asthma (a special report)
• The Case for Renewables (a special report)
• China’s Global Awakening (a special report)

New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has planted the 500,000^th tree–a pin oak–as part of the city’s Million Trees Campaign. Beyond beautifying the city, trees help clean the air by absorbing carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. They also lower surrounding temperatures and reduce storm water runoff.

Launched in 2007, the Million Trees Campaign is one year ahead of schedule. The campaign is a partnership between New York City and the New York Restoration Project, a nonprofit agency founded by entertainer Bette Midler. The city is planting trees on streets and in parks. The Restoration Project is focusing on the addition of trees to the grounds of cemeteries, churches, housing projects, and libraries. It is also offering free trees to encourage New Yorkers to plant in their own yards.

Additional Year Book article:

• Trees Under Threat (a special report)