Abstract
Although the approaches adopted to manage air pollution in Beijing and the UAE are strikingly different, the rates thereof are getting increasingly high in both states. To manage the problem, one will have to address the factors that promote and inhibit the design of the appropriate air pollution management strategies. It is essential that a sustainable approach that all companies will be able to adopt should be created to resolve the issue successfully.
Introduction
Background
The issue of air pollution is not new; however, no efficient solution has been located to address the problem yet (Valipour et al., 2014). The phenomenon of air pollution, which is often viewed as the primary cause of the global warming process, has been addressed for quite long, yet very few outcomes have been achieved so far. The situation in the UAE and Beijing, China, can be viewed as prime examples of inadequate air pollution management strategies.
Problem Statement
Although there are a plethora of suggestions concerning the improvement of the air cleanness rates, including both indoor and outdoor pollution, the state of affairs has not been improving over the past few years. The lack of effects of the increased awareness rates can be explained by the lack of control over the air pollution rates, UAE, and Beijing being the prime examples of the subject matter.
Research Question
The given paper aims at answering the following question:
What are the current issues concerning air pollution management on the global level and in the UAE and Beijing, what factors are these issues enhanced by, and what strategy can be used to prevent industrial air pollution?
Literature Review
Air Pollution: Causes
Before detailing the primary causes of air pollution, one must mention the fact that the very phenomenon under analysis exists in two orientations. According to WHO, the subject matter manifests itself as indoor or households, pollution (IAP), an outdoor, or ambient, one (OAP). The location of the air pollution source is predetermined by the type of air pollutant that causes the problems. For instance, the IAP phenomenon occurs due to the use of solid fuels as a means of cooking. OAP, in its turn, is caused by the factors that are too many to count, yet industrial pollution and car emissions (CO2) are often viewed as the key sources for good reasons (Chowdhury, Debsarkar, & Chakrabarty, 2015).
Air Pollution: Effects
The phenomenon under analysis is linked directly to the notion of global warming (Shimadera et al., 2014). Specifically, the ice caps melting process, which was launched with the start of the global warming process, trigger an inevitable and quite drastic climate change across the globe. The aftermath of the alteration is going to be beyond devastating; even at present, a range of unique habitats and species are endangered and even extinguished with no chances for further repopulation.
In addition, air pollution takes its toll on people as well, especially the residents of urban areas. Numerous respiratory issues, including lung diseases, in general, and lung cancer, in particular, are attributed to factors such as air pollution (Umoh et al., 2014).
Current Air Pollution Rates
At present, the air pollution rate is different across the globe. The pollution rates are largely predetermined by not only environmental policies but also the economic factors such as the number of factories and plants emitting CO2 and the related gases, the usage of cars running on gas as opposed to the hybrid models, etc. An overview of the current air pollution status globally will reveal that the problem is especially topical in Asia and South Africa, whereas West Europe, the United States, and Australia have reasonably low air pollution rates on their record (see Appendix A).
Air Pollution in UAE
The recent study carried out by the WHO has not supplied any data concerning the air pollution rates in the target area (Household (indoor) air pollution, 2016). The lack of data on the issue under analysis can be attributed to the fact that the control tools used to track the air pollution rates have not been fully developed in the UAE area yet. Nevertheless, the reports on the air-pollution-related problems in the UAE area indicate that the state has been suffering from increasing contamination for quite long (Household (indoor) air pollution, 2016).
The supposition concerning the problem being rooted in the lack of control over the pollution rates is mentioned in several sources (Umoh et al., 2014; Shimadera et al., 2014). In addition, when it comes to identifying the problems of the current strategies against pollution in the UAE and, especially, the means of raising awareness among the target tiers of the UAE society about the means of addressing the problem, the corresponding authorities send a wrong message. Instead of posing the phenomenon of air pollution as the contemporary monster that must be dreaded, the local authorities need to make it clear that the subject matter is a serious problem that can be addressed efficiently once simple steps are taken.
In other words, when it comes to identifying the issues that contribute to the further increase in IAP rates in the UAE, one must name a lack of awareness as the primary cause. The same cannot be said about the OP issues, however. A recent analysis of the problem has revealed that the power plants and the processes involving burning fossil fuels affect the air pollution rates in the designated environment to the greatest degree.
Air Pollution in Beijing
According to the recent report published by WHO, China, in general, and Beijing, in particular, is by far the most contaminated areas on the globe, with air pollution rates reaching drastic rates in the specified areas (see Appendix A). The observed phenomenon can be explained by the specifics of the economic development of the state. Seeing that industry is a part and parcel of the local economy and a crucial factor that defines China’s success in the global market, the number of plants is huge in China. For the same economic reasons, the resources acquired in the course of the local companies’ operations are allocated in a way that does not imply environmentally sensible approaches.
It is quite remarkable, though, that, despite the above issues, the air quality in Beijing has, in fact, improved significantly over the past year, as a recent report says (Rao, Rajasekhar, & Rao, 2014). Comparing the environmental issues in Beijing to those in UAE, one must admit that the differences are quite striking. Although the rates of economic growth and, therefore, the opportunities for proper allocation of resources, are much lower in Beijing than they are in the UAE, the air pollution rates have dropped in China as opposed to the UAE. The observed phenomenon can be viewed as the direct effect of the choice of the air pollution control strategy adopted. In contrast to the UAE, where little to no information is provided on the subject matter, the concerns voiced regarding China, in general, and Beijing, in particular, are quite well known. Therefore, the tools for controlling the issue in question and registering the slightest changes in the current air pollution rates offer much more accurate results in Beijing.
Possible Solutions
As the evidence provided above has shown, identifying the tools that will help switch to a different mode of resources consumption, while admittedly adequate, is not enough to create prerequisites for addressing the air pollution issue successfully. Apart from the above steps, it is essential to design the approach aimed at increasing mass awareness concerning the threat, convincing people to contribute to the resolution of the problem as opposed to fearing it. As a result, it is expected that the problems related to air pollution will finally be addressed.
In addition, the redesign of the very framework that companies operate in needs to be viewed as an option. There is no need to stress that the decision to comply with the current standards of the environmental safety is a question of ethics rather than the determination to follow regulations. Therefore, it is essential to consider the possibility of creating the environment, in which organizations will be eager to design the approach that will help monitor the air pollution rates. Thus, the tools for reducing the specified indices could be designed in a more elaborate and efficient manner.
Obstacles
While the steps outlined above seem quite legitimate, there is a range of obstacles that are likely to hinder the process of reducing air pollution rates in the outlined areas. The lack of financial resources should be listed at the top of the primary causes of concern. There is no need to stress that an awareness campaign needs funding.
In addition, one must bring up the fact that questionnaires, when distributed among the members of an organization and aimed at testing the efficacy of the managers’ strategies, tend to return non-objective results. For obvious reasons, primarily, the fear of being fired, people are likely to be unwilling to share the details concerning the specifics of their companies’ approaches. The possibility of meeting the obstacle above is especially high when addressing an issue as delicate as compliance with the existing principles of environmentally friendly production processes.
Research Importance
Although the problems related to the environment seem to have worn out their welcome as the topics for discussion in the contemporary society and have made way to other issues that are deemed as important nowadays, the need to take care of the subject matter is still quite evident. In lieu of the approaches that failed miserably as the tools for keeping the air pollution rates down, new strategies must be designed so that the problem in question should not trigger a rapid increase in the health problem rates, not to mention the number of environmental concerns.
Despite the fact that the study to be carried out might not reinvent the current approach toward managing air pollution rates globally and especially in Beijing and the UAE, it will shed some light on the current approaches adopted in the area and locate the issues that will have to be looked into. Moreover, there is a possibility that the study will serve as the basis for the further design of a brand-new approach toward air pollution rates management.
Limitations
As any study incorporating both qualitative and quantitative research methods, the paper under analysis is going to have a range of limitations. As a qualitative study, it will be time-consuming and will inevitably incorporate the researcher’s own insights on the problem, therefore, lacking objectivity. The application of a questionnaire as a primary tool for gathering quantitative data is likely to lead to creating premises for the participants to develop a preconceived attitude toward the issue under discussion.
Conclusion
The economic changes that the transfer to a safer industrial environment will demand should also be taken into consideration. Nevertheless, it is expected that the study will shed some light on the problem of air pollution. It is essential to make sure that the issue should draw as much attention as possible. An academic study detailing the outcomes of the lack of care might not be the perfect tool for increasing awareness, yet a program launched on the premises created by the study can. Therefore, the research is assumed to create the concern required to start doing the change to the specified environment.
Reference List
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Chowdhury, A. K., Debsarkar, A., & Chakrabarty, S. (2015). Seasonal variation of noise-air quality and state of exposure to noise-air pollution at curbside open-air microenvironment of Kolkata City, India. Columbia International Publishing International Journal of Environmental Pollution and Solutions, 3(1), 16-30.
Household (indoor) air pollution. (2016).
Rao, N. V., Rajasekhar, M., & Rao, G. C. (2014). Detrimental effect of air pollution, corrosion on building materials and historical structures. American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER), 3(3), 359-364.
Shimadera, H., Hayami, H., Ohara, T., Morino, Y., Takami, A., & Irei, S. (2014). Numerical simulation of extreme air pollution by fine particulate matter in china in winter 2013. Asian Journal of Atmospheric Environment, 8(1), 25-34.
Valipour, S. S., Mousavi, M., Valipour, R., & Rezaei, E. (2014).Air, water, and soil pollution study in industrial units using environmental flow diagram. Journal of Basic and Applied Scientific Research, 2(12), 12365-12372,
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