CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS IN HONG KONG

CARBON DIOXIDE LEVELS IN HONG KONG

The world is facing an increase in the level of pollution in the environment. One of the greatest pollutions is the release of harmful gases in the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide. Hong Kong is one of the areas that record much pollution, and the effects are as well clear. It is the responsibility of the government and the citizens to ensure they stop the pollution issues for the sake of community health and climatic conditions that affect many activities in a community, as addressed in this paper.

References

Chau, C. K., Hui, W. K., Ng, W. Y., & Powell, G. (2012). Assessment of CO2 emissions reduction in high-rise concrete office buildings using different material use options. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 61, 22-34.

• Industries in Hong Kong should adopt the use of natural gas that does not emit carbon dioxide. This will help greatly in reducing the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. The industries should also minimize the use of coal and fossil fuels. They should, instead, opt for more eco-friendly sources such as electricity to facilitate their energy needs. Cooperation of industries is, therefore, paramount in the efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emission.

Guan, D., Hubacek, K., Weber, C. L., Peters, G. P., & Reiner, D. M. (2018). The drivers of Chinese CO2 emissions from1980 to 2030. Global Environmental Change, 18 (4), 626-634.

• Hong Kong is one of the areas that record much pollution and the effects are as well clear. Carbon dioxide emission in Hong Kong has mainly been because of burning fuels and in the production of cement. The two activities have resulted in an increased amount of CO2 in the atmosphere in Hong Kong. (Guan et al. 2018)
• In Hong Kong, the major carbon emitter is coal. Coal is widely used in Hong Kong and other cities in China as it is cheaper as compared to natural gases. Therefore, the industries and homestead tend to use coal more than any other source of energy. (Guan et al. 2018)

Kwok, T. F., Xu, Y., Liu, X., & Leung, Y. (2018). The impacts of economic structure on China’s carbon dioxide emissions: an analysis with reference to other East Asian economies. Climate Policy, 18 (10), 1235-1245.

• Human beings, animals, and plants thus do not have conducive environment for growth. Breathing as well becomes difficult among humans due to increased level of the harmful gas. This is usually due to the prevalence of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and the increased likelihood of it getting absorbed by one’s body. This leaves little room for the absorption of oxygen that is useful to humans. Respiratory diseases may occur in the population as a result.(Kwok et al. 2018)

Proops, J. L., Faber, M., & Wagenhals, G. (2012). Reducing CO2 Emissions: A Comparative Input-output-study for Germany and the UK . Springer Science & Business Media.

• The industries in Hong Kong should adopt the use of natural gas that does not emit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and minimize the use of coal and fossil fuels. The most evident stumbling block to such efforts has been the lack of alternatives to the already existing energy sources. Coal and fossil fuels are the most available currently, hence make more economic sense. Cheaper alternatives should be presented to industries to curb carbon dioxide emission. (Proops et al. 2012)

Quadrelli, R., & Peterson, S. (2017). The energy–climate challenge: Recent trends in CO2 emissions from fuel combustion. Energy policy, 35 (11), 5938-5952.

• The ozone layer has been interfered with by the excessive carbon dioxide emitted from the industry. This has led to an increase in temperature that is interfering with the growth duration of some crops. The excessive emission, too, has been directly caused by the indiscriminate use of fertilizers in farming. This as agricultural produce has been cited as the top emitter of green house gases. Use of fertilizers should be limited to reduce carbon dioxide emission.(Quadrelli & Peterson, 2017)

Ürge-Vorsatz, D., Koeppel, S., & Mirasgedis, S. (2017). Appraisal of policy instruments for reducing buildings’ CO2emissions. Building Research & Information, 35 (4), 458-477.

• To effectively curb carbon dioxide emission, the government should look at more long term solutions. For instance, industries, and the population as a whole, should be encouraged to use renewable energy. Renewable energy is, overall, more eco-friendly and offers more sustainable energy options for the industry players. They emit much less, if any, carbon dioxide among other toxic gases which would help arrest pollution. Global warming will also be minimized, restoring predictable weather patterns, beneficial for farming.

 

Wang, K., Zhang, X., Wei, Y. M., & Yu, S. (2013). Regional allocation of CO2 emissions allowance over provinces in China by 2020. Energy Policy, 54 , 214-229.

• Increased number of factories and production companies in Hong Kong have played key role in the increase of CO2 in the environment. The factories use fossil fuels and coal for energy which leads to high carbon dioxide emission. Individual activities such as buying, using and burning of plastics as well facilitate the increase of the harmful gas in the atmosphere. Plastics especially, have become a burden, with lack of proper means of disposing of them. This causes harm to living things. (Wang et al. 2013)

Zheng, Y., & Pearson, D. (2019). Environmental policies analysis for CO2 emission reduction: evidence across countries1980-2014. In ITISE 2019 6th International conference on Time Series and Forecasting (pp. 463-474).

• Carbon dioxide emission is mostly from factories. This emission has affected the ozone layer adversely. This has led to drastic changes in climate. Most notable is the rise in temperatures across the globe. This has negatively affected the growth of crops, especially those more suited to cold temperatures.