By Aditya Shirali ‘08, Cornell University…Chinese health officials have noticed a troubling increase in respiratory and cardiovascular diseases due to pollution….Sulfur dioxide, a noxious compound produced in coal combustion, contributes to approximately 400,000 premature deaths a year in China through its damaging effects on the environment and health of citizens (Bradsher & Barboza, World Business)….Sulfur dioxide results in the formation of acid rain, which now falls on approximately 30% of China’s cultivated land area (EIA 2006). Consumption of crops and water affected by acid rain can have drastic effects on human health, such as arsenic poisoning and suppression of the immune system. However, a source of worry regarding acid rain is the destruction of crop yields, significantly inhibiting the growth of the agricultural sector….China has seen a soaring rise in respiratory diseases, which are currently the leading cause of death in China….In an attempt to reduce sulfur dioxide emission, the Chinese government established protocols to require smokestacks of all new coal-fired plants to be fitted with devices that remove up to 95 percent of the sulfur (Bradsher & Barboza, World Business).* ([1] Full Story)
__________________
* Note by folc.ca: That ought to have a negative impact on Canada’s (read Alberta’s) prospects to increase waste sulphur exports to China.  [2] The world market for waste sulphur is already glutted.