Outsourcing of American manufacturing to China has decreased air pollution on the east coast of the United States, but has inversely decreased the air quality on the country’s west coast due to pollution caused by Chinese factories. Most of the products we purchase every day are manufactured overseas, but the effects that their production causes are still being seen in the U.S. A recent study has concluded that “Chinese air pollution related to production for exports contributes, at a maximum on a daily basis, 12–24% of sulfate pollution over the western United States.” China has increased their burning of fossil fuels; but how much can the Chinese be blamed when they are manufacturing products for American consumption? It seems as though pollution doesn’t discriminate between countries.
http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2014/01/16/1312860111
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/study-pollution-from-chinese-factories-is-harming-air-quality-on-us-west-coast/2014/01/21/225e9b1e-8281-11e3-bbe5-6a2a3141e3a9_story.html
http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/20/health/pollution-china-pnas/
picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/london-commodity-markets/8199185801/