NGO Project Proposal
Sam Wu, Gregory Chang, and Ting-Wai To
Air Contamination Management and Education Association (ACMEA), the
China Division
Our visual above, created with Microsoft PowerPoint with a snapshot of a section of
Google Earth, with cloud layers at 4 km altitude. Picture edited to grayscale, 10%
lighter, also on PowerPoint.
Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environment_of_China#Air_pollution
- 60% of the 338 notable cities in China are polluted, even by the own standards of
China.
 Leading causes of death- respiratory and heart disease in China, are because
of air pollution.
- 30% of the entire country is prone to acid rain (especially Fujian and Taiwan
provinces)
- China’s carbon emissions surpassed the United States in June, 2007.
- China is already suffering from potential global warming effects- sea level rising,
stronger tropical storms.
DATA:
-
“The World Health Organization has found that about 750,000 people die prematurely
each year from respiratory problems in China.”
Although 750, 000 is still not a big percentage compared to China’s nearly 2
billion population, it is a scary number.
-
“On June 19, 2007, the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency announced, on
the basis of an analysis of fossil fuel consumption (including especially the coal power
plants [21]) and cement production data, that China surpassed the United States as the
world's largest emitter of carbon dioxide, putting out 6,200 million tons, in comparison
with America's 5,800 million.”
So now China will be the lead case of CO2 emissions. The difference will
probably grow bigger between America and China if America keeps on putting
factories in China, and China doesn’t raise its awareness of such issues.
Information from:
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/07/070709-china-pollution.html
- China has the highest death rates triggered by all kinds of pollution
 Air pollution kills 656, 000 people/ year
- China emits 1/ 3 of the world’s poisonous air pollutants, including sulfuric dioxide,
ozone, and nitrogen dioxide mixtures.
- OUTDOOR POLLUTION SOURCES: Fossil fuels, factory emissions,
constructions, and automobiles.
- INDOOR POLLUTION SOURCES: Heating of home with coal/ charcoal, radon
emissions from certain furniture, and smoking (1/3 of Chinese citizens smoke).
- Most prone to harm- pregnant women, children, and old people.
- WHO are taking measures to increase air quality standards (set by the local
government) in China.
DATA:
“A World Health Organization (WHO) report estimates that diseases triggered by
indoor and outdoor air pollution kill 656,000 Chinese citizens each year.”
Naturally, this shows how fatal bad air is to the people. And we breathe in the same
air right now. Does that mean that we’re sealing our fate of a premature death if we
live in China?
“Beijing pledged to present pristine skies, waterways, and cityscapes during its bid to
host the 2008 Olympics.”
It’s a good thing that Beijing hosted the Olympics for 2008. In doing so, this event
would definitely serve as a motivation for Beijing to raise its environmental quality
standards. Unfortunate for the athletes, they didn’t get to compete in a clean
environment, and so therefore they weren’t in their best shapes.
Information from:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/airpollution.html
-Air pollution mixture of solid particles and gases.
-Solid particles=car emissions, chemicals from factories, dust, pollen, mold spores
-some air pollutants poisonous
-inhaling them increases chance you'll have health problems
-people with heart or lung disease, older adults, children at greater risk
-air inside buildings can also harm you, not just outside air
DATA EXPLANATIONS:
Since China is a huge developing country, and also the fastest growing country in the world,
it naturally has to get a lot of energy through various means. Unfortunately, most of the energy is
produced by burning coal, which is probably the most inefficient burning and most polluting of
fossil fuels. Even though China does put factories away from city centers, the wind cannot be
controlled, and a lot of factory pollution still gets blown in the city. It would be helpful if most
factory smokestacks had mufflers to purify the air coming out the smokestacks, but mufflers are
expensive.
Information from:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-chinaair13-2008oct13,0,3737998.story
china home of 16 of the planet's 20 most heavily polluted cities
-some indoor air up to 10 times worst than outside air
-seven of 10 homes burn coal and wood for heat
-half of chinese men smoke
-over next 25 years 83 million will die of lung cancer and respiratory ailments
""In many places in rural China, the roads are good, people now have cellphones and electricity, but
residents are still cooking and heating with the same fuel they have used for centuries," said Majid
Ezzati, an associate professor of international health and senior author of the study. "And as a result,
people are dying.""
-250 million smokers
-respiratory illnesses account for three of the top 10 causes of death in China
-anti-smoking laws in public places often not enforced
Information from:
http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32097
"After placing fourth in 2004's ranking of China's most livable cities, Beijing tumbled to number fifteen
in 2005 according to an annual survey conducted by the Horizon Group, an independent, Beijing-based
research company, that evaluated traffic conditions, environment and air quality among others criteria
for quality of life."
-Beijing and nearby places in northeast China were named as having the world's highest levels of
nitrogen dioxide- key smog gas that comes from power plants, heavy industry and vehicle emissions.
-the gas can cause fatal lunge damage
-gas level increased by some 50 percent in China's air since 1996
-January, only 11 blue sky days in Beijing
-since 2000, Beijing has exiled more than 1,000 heavy industrial and power-generation plants to
outside of the city
-unleaded fuel was banned
http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/02/chinas_air_poll.html
-last year, around 4,000 old polluting buses and 30,000 cabs were removed from service and replaced
with newer ones
-for the 2008 Olympics, city leaders have declared that all construction should cease by the end of 2006
"some 40 percent of households in this city of 14 million people hope to buy a car in the coming five
years, researchers from Beijing University's China Centre for Economic Research announced
recently."
Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radon
radon: symbol Rn, atomic number: 86
colorless, odorless,tasteless, naturally occurring, radioactive noble gas that is formed from the
decay radium
one of heaviest gases in room temperature
heaviest of all in noble gases
considered to be a health hazard
a significant contaminant that affects indoor air quality
has reportedly causes 21,000 lung cancer deaths in US
second most frequent cause of lung cancer
radon levels are usually higher indoors
Soils and rocks containing high levels of uranium, such as granite, phosphate, shale and
pitchblende are natural sources of radon (copied and pasted)
the only way to know if there is any problem is the measure the radon level
radon can be in water, it can enter homes or buildings through holes or cracks in the cement wall
or cracks in floor, walls or foundations
Information from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fossil_fuels
fossil fuels are hydrocarbons such as oil, coal, and natural gas
fossil fuels are fossil source fuels
fossil fuels are a non-renewable resource that take millions of years to form
burning fossil fuels produces around 21.3 billion tons of carbon dioxide per year, estimation
shows that the natural processes can only take in half of the amount
according to 2005 studies, 86% of primary energy production in the world comes from burning
fossil fuels
burning fossil fuels results in the release of carbon dioxide
fossil fuels are formed from the preserved remains of organisms under immense heat and pressure
in US, more than 90% of greenhouse gas emissions come from the combustion of fossil fuels
don't know why you need this info, but got this pic:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Electron_shell_086_Radon.svg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indoor_air_quality
Indoor air quality, IAQ
Indoor air quality is a term meaning the quality of the air indoors
Common pollutants: radon, molds and other allergens, carbon monoxide, carbon
dioxide, ozone, asbestos fibers,
Recent studies show that indoor air quality is worse than outdoor air quality
Indoor air quality is associated with many diseases like asthma.
Radon: invisible, odorless, tasteless, radioactive atomic gas resulting from the
radioactive decay of radium, may be found in rock formations beneath buildings or in
certain building materials. A heavy gas that tends to accumulate at ground floors
Carbon monoxide: colorless, odorless, tasteless, byproduct of incomplete combustion
of fossil fuels. Common sources: tobacco smoke, space heaters (using fossil fuels),
automobile exhaust. High levels of CO can cause nausea, unconsciousness, death
Asbestos fiber: inhalation of asbestos fibers can cause malignant mesothelioma, lung
cancer, and asbestosis. Risk of lung cancer is greater to people inhaling asbestos
fibers than smokers. The US Federal Government and some states set standards for
levels of asbestos fibers indoors.
Carbon dioxide: humans are the main source of indoor CO2. Unusually high levels s
CO2 may cause people to get drowsy, get headaches, or function at lower activity
levels.
Ozone: bluish colored gas, ozone is produced by ultraviolet light from Sun hitting the
Earth's atmosphere, lightning, and as a byproduct of other types of pollution.
Industrial use of ozone: disinfect laundry, deodorize air and objects, kill bacteria on
food or contact surfaces, sanitize swimming pools and spas, wash fresh fruits and
vegetable to eliminate yeast, mold and bacteria
Our Mission Statement:
Educate effectively about Radon and Sulfuric Dioxide, and also start a project in
hopes of getting rid of Radon in some homes (help detect, help advise, and help
clear).
Our Goals:
1) Educate local citizens of the harmful effects of Radon and Sulfuric Dioxide,
also to make them aware of the issues and motivate them to do something
about these two pollutants.
2) Raise funds (from donations) for potential projects in the near future. All
lectures and seminars involved for education will be free, and from our own
expenses.
3) Focus on Radon clearance- help local citizens get rid of Radon in their homes.
4) Have left over money to start more ambitious projects.
Financial Income:
We would like to start our financial support just from our own money. The idea is that
we three founders originally have full time jobs, but decide to start up ACMEA for the sake
of saving the environment we care about. So it really is a part-time thing, where volunteers
are needed, not employees. We initially have jobs with extra high salaries:
Gregory- Chief Financial Officer of Google
Sam- Music Director and Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra
Ting-Wai- Graphics Programmer for NVIDIA, Graphics director for the GTA Game
Because of our high incomes, we may easily start off a part-time NGO. Then, we
would deposit some more of our money into funds, and then invest them into the
stock market. Hopefully, the money we earn will be sufficient to support the NGO’s
projects and goals. Meanwhile, we would still host fundraising events- such as free,
informational seminars about our group, and ask people to donate. If we do get a lot
of excessive money, we might actually consider starting to recruit actual,
salary-needing employees.