Asia with a hungry stomach and polluted cities

While the world is fed up with black coal, Asia is hungry for this food with a hungry stomach and is always ready to put coal even though the sky is gray. infected.

In the past year, cardiologist Ade Imasanti Sapardan, who works in Jakarta, Indonesia, has seen the number of patients visiting her hospital double, reaching the threshold of about 100 people who visit every day.

A man is collecting garbage, behind him is a chimney constantly gushing on the outskirts of Hebei Province, China.(Photo: Thomas Peter / Reuters).

Sapardan receives bedside monitoring and treatment of about 150 patients a week, and she finds it is the increasingly serious air pollution in this city of 10 million that is leading to the increasing number of patients.

'The air in Jarkata is very polluted, everyday people have to breathe dirty air into their lungs,' said Dr. Sapardan. The female doctor also added that her patients had common symptoms including chest pain, severe coughing, and difficulty breathing.

A child is playing outside a coal power plant in Bataan, north of the Philippines.(Image: Alanah Torralba / Reuters).

If that information does not impress you, then the World Health Organization (WHO) has just published a survey conducted exclusively in Asia, showing that out of 10 people in this area, 9 have to breathe. breathing poorly clean air, this is the highest rate - far exceeding any other area in the world.

The most polluted cities in Southeast Asia

Why is the air here so dirty? It is easy to see that the burning of fossil fuels causes this problem and causes 7 million premature deaths each year. But not only that, the demand for fuel on the planet's largest continent has not shown signs of slowing down, causing pollution so there is no intention of stopping.

Demand for coal outside Asia was at its peak in 1988 and has not increased ever since. At the same time, coal cravings in Asia have skyrocketed by 3.5 times and starred in the picture of global energy demand.

Coal miners are working under a mine in China.(Photo: Tim Wimborne / Reuters).

Researcher Nikos Tsafos at the Center for International Strategy and Research (CSIS) in Washington said: 'Large and small cities in Asia today are in the state of serious air pollution, most of which The reason came from too much burning coal .

The region has always been assessed as having great potential for economic development, so they need huge amounts of energy to bring electricity to every corner to serve living and production, so much so that this is The top concern goes beyond the other. '

Air pollution in Hanoi reduces the foresight to a significantly low level.(Photo: Manan Vatsyana / AFP).

According to a study on air quality conducted by Greenpeace and IQAir AirVisual this month, the top and most polluted names on the list of the world's 100 most polluted cities are representatives from Asia, India and China are the most named.

I want to quit but extremely difficult

Not only are there many cultural similarities, countries in Asia are also alike in terms of massive urbanization, uncontrolled rapid population growth and the trade-off between economic development and environmental protection. .

Smoke was released at a coal-fired power plant in Hebei Province, China.(Photo: Thomas Peter / Reuters).

Asia-Pacific consumed 75% of the world's coal in 2017, a rate that has doubled in just 20 years. Experts say that it is the abundant coal resources available here, the cheap labor force that has created huge profits, that the alternative energy sources have no chance to shine and then drag Asia backwards. back to the global trend of clean energy.

Banks and private businesses have gradually pulled out of coal-use businesses, but this has not helped fossil fuel demand in Asia. Explaining this, experts said that thanks to the support of the state bank and the authorities in some localities, coal mining and burning activities have not been stopped.

A masked man covers a face and walks through a square in Beijing, China.(Photo: Jason Lee / Reuters).

In addition, many programs of major countries such as China's Belt and Road Initiative, Japan's coal power boosting program after the Fukushima disaster also made coal production lines unbreakable. is a closed rotation.

Many researchers think that when clean energy is strong enough to catch governments' attention and big businesses, coal will quickly become a thing of yesterday. Unfortunately, they still occupy the unique position of today and many more days later.

How does air pollution destroy the human body?

Air pollution is one of the most significant health damage factors , such as respiratory infections, heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.

According to WHO, about 7 million people a year die before they reach old age due to breathing dirty air every day. Of these, people from India account for the highest proportion, followed by China with about half a million people every year.

Breathing in air full of smoke will harm human health.(Photo: Vietnammoi).

For children who are born in a polluted atmosphere, it is difficult for them to develop their bodies in the normal way, their bodily functions are disturbed, leading to many chronic diseases before they reach the age of puberty then eventually retreats from life significantly earlier than previous generations.

The agency also said that air pollution is considered a silent killer when 30% of deaths from lung cancer are related to air pollution, the rate of brain stroke as well as diseases. about 25% of cardiovascular disease, an estimated 43% of deaths due to respiratory diseases related to air pollution.

Workers work at a coal mining facility in India.(Photo: Reuters)

According to EPA estimates in the US alone, there are about 15,000 heart attacks each year, 6,000 children with asthma and 8,900 hospitalizations for illnesses or respiratory problems due to ingestion of dirty lungs. .

Air pollution also causes significant economic losses, although in the immediate future they help smooth industrial production activities and bring about huge profits.

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