American scientists have warned that Chinaâ„¢s air pollution is not limited to the country and it can affect people in the west coast of the United States.
The exasperating pollution may blow east to Korea and Japan and could even reach the United States, The New York Times reported.
Dan Jaffe, the University of Washington-Bothell professor, said the transporting of pollutants across the Pacific Ocean takes at least four or five days and they ride west-to-east winds at heights of 6,000 feet to 20,000 feet.
Å“People living at higher elevations are definitely getting greater exposure” to pollutants coming from Asia, Jaffe said.
A solution for the issue is Å“largely elusive” as political tensions between Beijing and Washington run high, according to the report.
Å“The countries most directly affected by air pollution from China are its nearest neighbors,” Paul Harris, the chair professor of global and environmental studies at the Hong Kong Institute of Education, said.
Å“As with every other aspect of relations with China, there is a limit to what they can do about it,” he added.
However, scientists said that the Chinese contribution to US pollution is relatively small, compared to domestic sources of pollution.
This year has been an extraordinarily polluted year in China.
Wang Jinnan, deputy head of the Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning, said China needs to invest 1.75 trillion Yuan (290 billion US dollars) for its air pollution treatment plan from 2013 to 2017.
Wang said that the investment would drive up GDP by nearly 2 trillion Yuan and create over 2 million jobs.
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Source: Press TV