Smog has shrouded Middle and Eastern China for several days.          Wang Zhou/SSCP     The past few weeks, smog has shrouded Middle and Eastern China for several days at a time while air pollution levels have soared in some major cities, attracting attention from both Chinese and international media. Zhuang Guiyang, a senior research fellow from the Institute for Urban and Environment Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences explained that smog appears when there is an abundance of atmospheric water vapor, a dearth of strong air current and certain pollutants (atmospheric particulates, for example). While meteorological conditions are less controlled by human beings, the bulk of pollutant emissions are the result of human activity. In the process of industrialization, developed countries like the United Kingdom and the United States also once witnessed air pollution and general environmental degradation, forcing middle and upper class residents to relocate to the suburbs. “London once saw severe smog that killed over 10,000 people in early 1950s,” Shi Ju, vice president of the School of Public Management at Nanjing University of Information and Technology, noted. Shi said that the current smog in Beijing and other Chinese cities serves as a warning for China not to follow the road of “pollution before regulation” that western nations followed in their development processes. Scholars asserted that the capital’s smog has revealed particular deep problems inherent in the process of urbanization. They suggested that these problems require our reflection on the concept and pattern of urban development, as well as the reformulation of production modes. These changes should seek to align urbanization and manufacturing with a lifestyle suitable for the environment, they added. The three chief contributors to air pollution are coal, automobile exhaust and construction dust and other forms of dust, Zhuang Guiyang explained. He elaborated coal is China’s primary energy source, and consequently smoke pollution emitted from coal combustion remains the number one cause of air pollution in Chinese cities. Increasingly heavier traffic pollution has become another significant influencing factor, Zhuang added. With the development of transportation, the number of vehicles in urban areas is increasing. Lastly, dust pollutants, from the earth, construction sites and wind erosion may exert significant influence on particle concentration in the air. Sources of TSP, the main air pollutant in cities, are getting increasingly diversified.　　Zhuang iterated the importance of implementing the Enforcement Regulations for Law on Prevention of Air Pollution of the People's Republic of China to control and solve the problem of air pollution in urban areas: the management system needs to be improved. Emissions reduction targets should be achieved by stringently controlling the total emission of air pollutants in industries and areas with heavy emissions. Production skills and energy efficiency should be improved with the development of science and technology.　　　“The reason why the smog has generated so much concern is because it is not only hazardous to the environment, but also public health,” Shi Jun commented. Shi asserted that ecological and environmental problems should be understood from the perspective of public health. There is no need to belabor whether an ecological outlook should be based on anthropocentrism (to protect environment for human beings’ sake) or biocentrism (to protect nature for its own sake). In fact, an environment detrimental to animals and plants is detrimental to human beings’ health and social development as well.　　An ecological “win-win” vision is needed to foster harmony between man and nature. Observing from the perspective of world history, Mei Xueqin, a professor from Tsinghua University and expert on environmental history, argued that a dialectic approach should be taken when evaluating the achievements of industrial civilization and its problems. Treating ecological problems should stem from a deep understanding of the environmental wisdom in agricultural civilizations and other ancient modes of production, Mei maintained.  Chen Heng, a professor from Shanghai Normal University, asserted that different concepts are highlighted based on the diversified needs in various eras. “To construct an ecological civilization is to build an energy-saving and environment-friendly society. Such a society would consider the carrying capacity of humans’ vis-à-vis available resources and the environment, abiding by natural laws and aiming at sustainable development so as to facilitate harmonious coexistence between man and nature, environment and economy, and human and society,” Chen explained. Zhuang Guiyang suggested that the concept of ecological civilization be established to respect, comply with and protect nature, and that natural conditions plus the environmental carrying capacity be taken into full consideration in allocation of production, urbanization and construction of major projects. Ma Xianzhong is a reporter from Chinese Social Sciences Today. The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No 410, Jan 28. For Chinese reference:http://www.csstoday.net/Item/46119.aspx  Translated by Jiang Hong