Cao, Jie, et al. “Association between long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution and mortality in China: a cohort study.” Journal of Hazardous Materials 186.2/3 (2011): 1594-1600. Academic research completed. Network. Nov. 12, 2013. Cao says China's air pollution is causing increased mortality, hospitalization rates, exacerbation of chronic respiratory conditions and decreased lung function. A test was conducted comparing long-term exposure to outdoor air pollution and mortality in a nationally representative cohort in China. A random clustering design selected 158,666 adults from China to participate in this study. There are no adequate monitoring stations in rural China; so the researchers limited their analysis to participants living in urban areas. There remain 70,947 individuals residing in 31 cities in 16 provinces. Medical history was recorded for each subject to estimate the previous risk factor. Between 1999 and 2000, researchers conducted in-depth interviews to obtain information on the history of the disease, hospitalizations and deaths. If a death occurred, a death certificate was obtained from the police along with all medical documentation. A total of 8,319 subjects died during follow-up, of which 3,013 died from cardiovascular disease, 921 from respiratory disease and 624 from lung cancer. “From 1991 to 2000, annual concentrations decreased by 5% for TSP and 35% for SO2, but increased by 28% for NOx, suggesting that the pattern of air pollution in Chinese cities had gradually changed since conventional coal combustion type to mixed coal combustion/ motor vehicle emissions type in the 1990s”. I will use Cao's findings as statistical evidence that air pollution in China is boosting morale... middle of paper... it is predicted that in 2050, around 3.6 million people could end up dying prematurely due to air pollution every year, most of the deaths occurred in China and India. China's population growth is stalling because the death rate from pollution is becoming higher than the birth rate. Seventy-four cities are now required to release data on levels of particulate matter 2.5 micrometers in diameter or smaller, which penetrate body tissues. Chinese officials had collected the data but refused to release it, until pressured by the Chinese who saw that the US embassy in Beijing was measuring levels every hour and publishing the data in a Twitter feed. This information will be useful in formulating ideas about main topics and also as information in the body of my essay. It also contains information to provide a comparison between China and the United States.