China’s agriculture ministry has invited the public to draft an agreement to prevent illegal fishing and depletion of coastal fish stocks. Currently China is struggling to remedy damage done by overdevelopment of its rivers and lakes. Fish stocks are suffering from industrial pollution and habitat disruptions caused by dams and water diversions. Some species, such as the Chinese sturgeon, remain on the brink of extinction. China will also prepare a blacklist for lawbreaking vessels, both domestic and foreign.

Data from the environment ministry shows that China’s major steel producing city, Tangshan has been ranked as China’s most polluted in July, even after orders to cut output. Average concentrations of hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5 reached 42 micrograms per cubic metre. However, concentrations of ground-level ozone, known as “sunburn for the lungs” and caused by the interaction of car exhaust fumes with sunlight, rose 8.1% compared with a year earlier.

Australia’s Prime Minister, Scott Morrison told Sky News that China and other developing nations need to do more to combat climate change and reduce its carbon pollution. He said ‘Their rules on emissions are completely different to what applies to Australia under the Paris Agreement’. Morrison questions whether China is focused on its economy or the environment. He also criticised China’s claim to ‘developing nation status’ and said that it allowed China to play by different rules, giving it an advantage in the expansion of global trade.

As climate activist Greta Thunberg sails into New York this week, the concern of those campaigning like her for action against climate change cannot be that their cause lacks publicity. From a series of authoritative scientific reports to the Extinction Rebellion protests in Europe to the extreme weather of the past two months, such issues have been high on the agenda.

Ozone will be the main pollutant in many parts of China according to forecasts from the country’s National Meteorological Center. The ozone gas is linked to health implications, such a respiratory issues. Concentrations can also damage materials such as rubber and plastic. Parts of the China (the Jing-Jin-Ji region) are expected to see some light ozone pollution, while the southwestern Chengdu-Chongqing region may see moderate ozone pollution due to high temperatures and strong sunlight.

Yet again, china’s central government inspectors have criticised state-owned China Minmetals Corp Ltd for violating environmental regulations. Evidence shows that the company had failed to replace its outdated blast furnaces and production lines, and had not properly dealt with pollution discharges. The subsidiary had also fraudulently applied for special “green factory” status from the local government, even though it had been fined a total of 23.3 million yuan ($3.3 million) for violations from 2014 to 2018, the notice said.

According to a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, global warming is likely to make China’s efforts to manage its air pollution progressively harder. The study found that more intense and frequent extreme weather events like heatwaves and stagnant air will increase air pollution across the country, causing more people to die as a result. The discovery threatens China’s already severe air quality problem, which is currently linked to around 1 million deaths in the country each year.

State-owned China Minmetals has failed to rectify a series of pollution offences at its rare earth production unit despite being ordered to do so. The company’s four extraction plants and three workshops had significant issues with hydrogen chloride and organic waste gasses.

The Chinese government nor the public is negligent to the effects of air pollution on an individual’s health and quality of life. A new study by the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that the long-term effects of breathing polluted air are worse than previously expected. Air pollution levels can correlate to quicker development of damage to the lungs in susceptible populations, regardless of whether or not the people exposed also smoke cigarettes. In China, where the national ozone air quality standard is around 80ppb, over 60 days per year exceed the safe air quality standard in the country’s populous eastern and central regions. Like China, the US has seen a decline in air pollution in recent years, but the presence of ground-level ozone is harder to manage.

Researchers have discovered microplastics in the Arctic circle that come from China. Microplastics were also found to be raining down in the farmland soils near Shanghai in China.