Does Pollution Affect How People View the Environment?

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How Perceived Exposure to Environmental Harm Influences Environmental Behavior in Urban China (Abstract, Xiaodong Chen, M. Nils Peterson, Vanessa Hull, Chuntian Lu, Dayong Hong and Jianguo Liu, AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, Jul. 23, 2012) 

Also discussed here: Pollution Can Make Citizens, Both Rich and Poor, Go Green (ScienceDaily, Jul. 30, 2012) 

From China comes a revealing article that explores how people react to pollution and environmental degradation around them and in particular what action they take. The research indicates that people are more apt to act in a way that directly controls or affects the pollution and this includes taking legal action. The unfortunate link between economic development and harm to the environment also suggests that continued economic growth in China will inspire more and more public reaction. The question we are left with is how closely does the action of people in other countries follow those in China. If it does, from a public policy standpoint in times of environmental crises, cities in other countries need to have ready plans to make major advances on environmental protection and improvement.  

Key Quotes: 

 “Nothing inspires environmentalism quite like a smog-filled sky or a contaminated river” 

"The human and natural worlds are tightly coupled and we cannot protect the environment without empirical studies on how rich and poor people are understanding and reacting to the natural world around them." 

 “environmental harm is one of the most important predictors of environmental behavior,.. If people are affected by degraded environmental conditions, then even people with low economic status still may sacrifice some economic benefit in order to protect the environment" 

 “The authors found that actions that resulted in direct results such as environmental litigation were the ones that people most likely turned to after being exposed to environmental harm”

 “if people are affected by environmental harm, they feel they should do something positive, and something they themselves can control,"

 “more participation in pro-environmental behaviors may be expected as rapid economic development increases public exposure to environmental harm in urban China”

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