Air Pollution in Mexico City and Solution, Essay Example

Abstract

Mexico City, one of the most populous cities in the world, is currently experiencing serious air pollution. The air quality index (AQI) in the city was approximately 120 in August 2015, which is an unhealthy level for vulnerable members of the population. As a consequence of these levels, residents of Mexico City have an increased risk of developing asthma and COPD. The AQI index is an effective measurement of air quality because it simplifies and combines an understanding of the density of different kinds of air pollution as a conceptual index. According to data from Airflow, the air pollution in Mexico is obvious; pictures taken from a top view of Mexico City make it appear that the whole city is hidden in fog. Scientists have found many reasons for the development of air pollution in Mexico City. The large population of the city, in addition to the tendency for large numbers of individuals to operate motor vehicles, emissions release many greenhouse gasses, including CO2, SO2 and NO2, into the environment. The existence of a large number of factories in Mexico City also contributes to air pollution. Many factories use burning coals to power these sites, which is detrimental because the carbon emission produced by coal is larger than oil or natural gas. Mexico City’s geographic location is special because it suffers due to the negative influence of airflow; pollution gathers in Mexico City, contributing to a detrimental air quality. Solutions to reduce the air pollution problem in Mexico City can be approached from a variety of directions. One potential solution is to persuade Mexico City government’s environmental policies to contribute to green practices; promoting the use of bicycles, building more convenient public transit, and hosting no drive days can potentially reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Furthermore, using green energy to replace fossil fuel will contribute to this goal. In this case study, I researched Shenzhen, a metropolis in China, which had heavy air pollution before 2008. Due to the implementation of effective environmental policies, Shenzhen was able to reduce air pollution in the environment to acceptable levels. The policies applied in Shenzhen were similar to those applied in Mexico City, but some details of these policies were different. For example, attempts were made to reduce the number of cars in both cities. Mexico City’s government implemented this limit by deciding which cars can drive on certain days based on their license plate number. In Shenzhen, the same was done, but the government also considered that it needed to limit the amount of license plates that an individual could own. As of 2015, people were only allowed to own one license plate in Shenzhen. Thus looking to Shenzhen’s policy as an example, it is possible to fund reasonable ways to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases.

Introduction

Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, is located in the Valley of Mexico, which has an attitude of 2,240 meters and is considered to be one of the largest cities in the world. (Mexicocity.com). In 2014, the population in Mexico City was 21,178,959 (Proyecciones). Mexico City is the financial center of Mexico and largest Spanish-speaking city in the region. Because a lot of business is conducted in the region and the population is so large, air pollution is a significant problem in the area. In 1992, the United Nations claimed that Mexico City’s air as the most polluted on the planet. After six years, the air quality in Mexico City resulted in it being named “the most dangerous city in the world for children” (Hibler).

Many diseases are caused by air pollution. According to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, long term exposure to air pollution increases the risk for respiratory illnesses. Vulnerable groups of patients, including children, the sick, and the elderly, are easily effected by air pollution (Hughes). Asthma, a common respiration disease, is supposed to be caused by air pollution from cars and factories. COPD, also known as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, is also thought to be caused by air pollution. According to the American Lung Association or ALA, long-term exposure to air pollution can contribute to the development of impaired lung functioning.

This topic is important to research because Mexico City is a typical polluted city in that it is harmed by rapid development and a large population. There are many cities that could be used as examples to demonstrate how air pollution could be reduced in spite of constant urban development projects. Therefore, it would be valuable to determine how the government of Mexico City government plans to resolve the problem, in addition to the differences between the solutions present in this city and others with a similar problem. To assess the severity of the air pollution in Mexico City, as assessment of the air quality index (AQI) was determined for the days between Aug.28 and Nov.28. The emission of carbon monoxide, the emission of sulfur dioxide, and the emission of ozone was also determined. According to this information, the pollution in Mexico City has likely decreased in recent years, but it still sustains in a moderate high level, which contributes to the development of health problems for vulnerable members of the population.

Discussion

According to the results, Mexico City is still subject to heavy air pollution. The air in Mexico City continues to cause health concerns among vulnerable members of the population. According to the data concerning the emissions of carbon monoxide in this territory, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide are common atmospheric contaminants. Since 1994, the government of Mexico City has attempted to intervene and resolve the air pollution problem, but these attempts have not been completely successful. As such, the AQI remains at an unacceptable high.

The Special Location of Mexico City

The geographic location of Mexico City can be used to explain the perpetuation of the AQI in this area. In a pressure system, different air pressures cause high pressure systems and low pressure systems. In a low pressure system, wind flows into the center of the low pressure area in an anticlockwise manner. The air converges in the center, and it rises slowly. In a high pressure system, the wind diverges from the high pressure center to the surrounding low pressure area. To replenish for this displacement, the air gathers above the center of the high pressure area. Mexico City can be described as a high pressure system.

Mexico City exists in a high pressure system because of the high temperature and low elevation with respect to the surrounding mountains and hills. Thus, because the city sits in the Valley of Mexico, the wind cannot diverge from this location to other areas. As a consequence, the mountains surrounding the city act like fences that trapping the air pollution on the top of the city, preventing fresh air from entering its surroundings. For this reason, air pollution accumulates and a challenge is presented for removal.

Based on the assumptions of the city’s geography, one way to solve the air pollution crisis is by building satellite cities near Mexico City and out of the Valley of Mexico to shift the factories and power plants to these new locations. Because the satellite cities are outside of the Valley of Mexico, the pressure system that filters the air near major sources of pollution will be more effective. As a result of this, the air pollution in Mexico City should decrease and the satellite cities should experience heavy air pollution because the pollution will be able to diffuse into the environment.

The Weakness of “Racing to the Bottom”

Sometimes cities need to sacrifice their environmental health for economic growth, which is especially in developing countries. It is important to consider that restricting air pollution may destroy economic growth. Governments hesitate to apply some environmental policies because they know this to be true. In the past, governments have found that they cannot halt environmental pollution because they wish to support the economic stability of their country. This theory is called the “race to the bottom”, and indicates a state in which standards collapse because “pollution havens” form in developing countries. Many people believe that the air pollution in Mexico City is caused by developing countries, who have established their factories in the country. According to Wheeler’s research, the “race to the bottom” model is flawed because it misrepresents the political economy of pollution control in developing countries. Wheeler improves this model by showing that low-income societies serve their long-term interests by reducing pollution (Wheeler). This model goes on to explain that air pollution decreasing in Mexico City. The government published many conservation policies to fight air pollution 2007.

In 2007, Mayor Marcelo Ebrard introduced a number of measures to decrease the emission of GHGs. However, too much money was lost through this program before a benefit could be seen. Furthermore, to stop climate change, Mexico City’s “green plan” project intends to make the city more environmentally friendly within a 15-year period. This plan detailed how the city should deal with air, water, solid pollution, climate change and energy, and transportation and waste. Concerning air pollution, the program’s purpose is to control the most prevailing and health-affecting pollutants, such as ozone sulfur dioxide, in addition to attaining reduction of toxic contaminant emissions (Ciudad Mexico). One way to achieve this emission reduction was to replace taxis with microbuses that release less emissions. This program proves that Mexico’s government tried to solve the air pollution problem in Mexico City in a manner that sacrificed some economic growth.

Population: The Basic Reason for Air Pollution

There are 21,178,959 people living in Mexico City. According to the World Bank, Mexico City is the third largest city in the world, by population. Thus, the demand of electricity and vehicular use in Mexico City is large. The same problem is present in other cities with large populations, especially in developing countries, like India and China. While the huge population can create rapid economic growth, it could also contribute to a large amount of pollution. Since the industrial revolution in Mexico City, its economic growth has continued to climb. In 2002, Mexico City became more modern and developed, and the air pollution in Mexico City was also increasing. It appeared that the air pollution caused by the increasing population was unavoidable. Because Mexico City is the economic center of Mexico, many individuals travelled to this location for enterprise.

There are many reasons that people have relocated to Mexico City. A majority of these individuals believe that living there will help them attain better lives. For example, women working in Mexico City have higher income compared to women workers in other parts of Mexico (Galvan). Furthermore, the unemployment in Mexico City is higher than Mexico because of employment competition, indicating that the area is industrious (table 2-4). Unfortunately, because of this, many local citizens cannot get a good job due because of this competition, but they do not want to leave the city because they consider it to be their home. While limiting the number of immigrants that should be allowed to enter Mexico City is a reasonable solution to this problem, it is important to do so in a manner that reduces unemployment and congestion. Thus, building satellite cities may be a solution to this problem because doing so will create new jobs in new locations. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be a reasonable resolution in reality because many companies are not willing to leave Mexico City. A compensation policy is therefore needed because this will incentivize these organizations to move to a new location.

Motor Vehicles in Mexico City

Emissions due to the use of motor vehicles is a known problem in Mexico City. There are six pollutants contained in motor vehicle emissions: carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), ozone (O3), particular matter (PM) including PM2.5 and PM10, sulfur dioxide (SO2), and hydrocarbons (HC). Carbon monoxide is formed by the combustion of fossil fuel. The brain and heart of people who inhale too much carbon monoxide suffer from a loss of oxygen because CO blocks the ability oxygen to bind to blood molecules. PM is the primary pollution and diesel exhaust is a major contributor to the amount of PM produced. SO2 can react with the composition in the atmosphere to form toxic particles, and cause asthma attacks. Furthermore, HC reacts with NO2 in the presence of sunlight to form ground level ozone, which is a primary ingredient in smog.  These chemicals are therefore really dangerous to the health of Mexico City residents, and can possibly contribute to the death of vulnerable populations.

In Mexico City, the government has already introduced many programs to help reduce the emissions of vehicles. One famous program in Mexico City is known as Hoy No Circula, which prevents certain individuals from being able to drive based on the numbering of their license plate, at a time between 5 am and 10 pm Monday to Friday. When this program was implemented in 1989, these restrictions applied to 2.3 million vehicles, or 460,000 vehicles per day, which helped reduce a significant amount of emissions (David). To make this program more effective, the Mexican government extended the program to the use of public transport vehicles based on the emission levels of these vehicles (Molina). The old taxi and microbuses create tons of air pollution each year. Because of their old engines, they are not able to burn fossil fuel efficiently, so they are being replaced by cars with newer motors (Wee).

Credit: Wee

According to data from World Resource Institute, as compared with the previously implemented bus systems, this new system of transportation reduced passenger exposure to carbon monoxide and PM 2.5 by up to 50 percent, resulting in a reduction of carbon dioxide of 35,000 tons each year (EMBARO). Another advantage is that the price of this transportation is not expensive. Furthermore, choosing to travel by public transportation to busy locations is always faster than driving cars in Mexico City. However, a disadvantage of this system is that the road is only made for microbuses, so traffic is still a problem for most drivers.

In 2010, Ecobici, a public bicycle system, was released in the Western hemisphere, and is now promoted in Mexico City. At first, there were 85 docking stations and around 1,000 bicycles in the city. Now, there are 444 docking stations and 6,000 bicycles (ECOBICI). Compared to other vehicles, the bicycle is the greenest vehicle in the world because it releases no emissions and promotes health. Furthermore, in some crowded streets, riding a bike is even faster than driving cars. In addition, this mode of transportation is even less expensive than the microbus. It is important to consider the safety of the Ecobibi as well; the company even provides a helmet to ensure the safety of its users (Penalosa). To promote the use of bicycles, it is important to make this mode of transportation safer in Mexico City. Thus, setting a barrier between the bicycle lane and the car lane is a feasible way to reduce the frequency of accidents. Bicycle drivers will be safer as a result, and avoid using cars in order to avoid traffic and promote environmental safety.

A final option for travelers in Mexico City is the Metro, which offers one of the cheapest train tickets in the world. As of December 13, the cost of this ticket ranged from 3 to 5 pesos for a single rider. In 2012, more than 17.5 million people living in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area (MCSO) chose to take the Metro, which means that more than 75% of its citizens use this as a preferred mode of transit. It is very convenient and cheap to travel in Mexico City by Metro. Furthermore, riding the Metro offers an environmental incentive as well; it transports more people than a car while releasing less GHGs gases than a single vehicle.

It is important to look towards the use of green energy because it is a sustainable way to solve the problems of air pollution in Mexico City. Due to the large number of people in Mexico, the demand for electricity is significant. According to the data from 2012, the national electricity consumption stood at 229.318 gigawatt-hours (GWh). This data means that there was an increase of 7.2% in use over the year 2010. The electricity power supply continues to grow in order to serve more than 35.3 million users (U.S. Embassy).

According to Mexico’s Secretariat of Energy (SENER), by July 2013, non-fossil energy sources contributed with 24.2% of the installed public service capacity, and fossil fuel sources contributed 75.8%. (U.S Embassy). The hydropower generation provides large number of energy (11% of total energy), and while other renewable energies have a high potential, they only contribute a small part to the total energy used. Mexico’s goal was to increase its clean energy generating capacity to 35% in 2024 (U.S Embassy).

Hydropower is one example of green energy production that could be used without producing CO2 during the process. In Mexico City, it provides 11% of the total installed capacity, and most of Mexico’s current hydropower plants are built in the central or northwestern parts of the country. Solar power, energy from the radiation of the sun, can create energy without wasting any power. However, it is expensive to maintain this energy and the fee to install such equipment is high. In conclusion, due to the increased use of green energy methods, Mexico City has already significantly decreased its AQI, However, it has still failed to reach a normal level. The reasons for this are complex, but it is necessary for scientists to continue considering the changes that they can make to the current technology and power sources used in Mexico City to reverse some of the environmental damage that has been caused. Thus, it will be valuable to determine how to relocate some factories to prevent polluted air from reentering the city once it has left. By combining techniques and strengthening the stringency of laws, it is expected that Mexico City will be able to reduce its air quality to health levels in the next two decades.