3
Introduction
FIGURE 1.1
Agricultural regions of China. (Image credit: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.)
Not hardly. The complexity is evident when one views all the possibilities
(Figure 1.2).
Among the pollution caused by the industrial revolution, air pollution was
most striking. Shift from coal and regulations put into place in the developed world have drastically improved air quality in developed countries.
As discussed in Chapter 4, regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and various state and local municipalities have improved
the quality of air in the United States (similar measures were successful in
other developed regions as well) (Landrigan et al., 2018). While conditions
in developed regions are improving, rapidly industrializing nations today
are experiencing decreasing air quality (Landrigan et al., 2018). Initiatives
to shift biomass burning to biofuel production in developing nations, especially in Asia, may change this in the coming years. In 2016, of the 9 million
Introduction
FIGURE 1.1
Agricultural regions of China. (Image credit: U.S. Central Intelligence Agency.)
Not hardly. The complexity is evident when one views all the possibilities
(Figure 1.2).
Among the pollution caused by the industrial revolution, air pollution was
most striking. Shift from coal and regulations put into place in the developed world have drastically improved air quality in developed countries.
As discussed in Chapter 4, regulations by the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (EPA) and various state and local municipalities have improved
the quality of air in the United States (similar measures were successful in
other developed regions as well) (Landrigan et al., 2018). While conditions
in developed regions are improving, rapidly industrializing nations today
are experiencing decreasing air quality (Landrigan et al., 2018). Initiatives
to shift biomass burning to biofuel production in developing nations, especially in Asia, may change this in the coming years. In 2016, of the 9 million