Transmigrated as the Crown Prince

(I’ve been a little busy these two days, so I’ll write two chapters today)

"These guys are really tough."

High-level officials in the United States have learned about their own nuclear weapons test, but they still have no intention of surrendering. "Since you want to be strong so much, let's fight to the end." He waved his hand and motioned for Reinhard, who had just come in to report, to sit down and looked at Speer. "What did you say? Continue."

"The supply of electricity in major cities exceeds demand. We plan to build 31 new power plants in the first quarter of next year to alleviate the problem of electricity shortage in major cities." At this point in the report, Speer saw Yannick frown slightly and asked cautiously. road. "Your Highness, what's wrong?"

Yannick asked. “What types of power plants are these?”

"Twenty-eight of them are thermal power plants and the remaining three are hydroelectric power plants."

"..." Perhaps because he has been instilled with the awareness of caring for the environment since he was a child, Yannick doesn't have much of a favorable impression of thermal power generation. What's even worse is that current thermal power plants have few environmental protection indicators, let alone dust prevention measures. Directly emit large amounts of smoke, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and other pollutants. "Your Excellency Prime Minister, have you been to the Ruhr Industrial Area?"

Although he didn't know that Yannick mentioned this matter so suddenly, Speer nodded truthfully. "I just went there a week ago. The factory there works overtime..." Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Yannick. "You went there during the day, right? Can you still see the blue sky and white clouds there?"

Speer couldn't help but be stunned, then shook his head. "No, Your Highness, the air visibility there is very low, let alone the blue sky and white clouds."

"That must be the case." Yannick sighed, and couldn't help but think of how Heinrich Böll, a later German writer who won the Nobel Prize for Literature, described the Ruhr area in Germany in the 1950s and 1960s. "Coke factories everywhere are emitting black smoke, and foundries are constantly discharging reddish-brown sewage, as well as suspended particles floating in the air, making everything outdoors covered with a layer of black ash. White clothes are worn out When you open the door, it soon becomes gray. A home with red tiles, white walls, and green grass is an unattainable dream."

From the second half of the 18th century, through the entire 19th century to the early 20th century, first the United Kingdom, and then other European countries, successively experienced and realized the industrial revolution, and finally established an industrial production system based on coal, metallurgy, chemical industry, etc. The large-scale mining and burning of coal will inevitably release a large amount of smoke, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and other harmful pollutants when it provides power to promote the opening of factories and the operation of steam engines and facilitate people's daily lives. ; These countries inevitably have smoky towns, smog poisoning incidents, river pollution and other vicious situations.

With the expansion of industrialization and the advancement of science and technology, coal production and consumption in Western countries are increasing year by year. It is estimated that in the early 1940s, the amount of sulfur dioxide released by industrial production and household combustion worldwide was as high as tens of millions of tons per year, two-thirds of which was produced by burning coal. After the end of World War II, the world economy shifted from post-war recovery to a period of development. The major Western countries are developing their economies. The process of industrialization and urbanization is accelerating, and the economy is growing at a high speed. On the one hand, it has brought about a large demand and consumption of resources and raw materials. On the other hand, a large amount of waste from industrial production and urban life has been discharged into the soil, in rivers and the atmosphere, eventually causing a major explosion of environmental pollution, further aggravating the world's environmental pollution crisis.

In December 1962, the "Ruhr Industrial Area Smog Incident" occurred, resulting in the death of 156 people. At that time, serious smog appeared for the first time in the Ruhr Industrial Area. In some areas, the air SO2 concentration was as high as 5,000 micrograms/cubic meter (the air quality standard of the later World Health Organization is 25 micrograms/cubic meter). Local residents suffered from respiratory diseases, heart diseases, and cancer. rate increased significantly. Although the state government of North Rhine-Westphalia, where the Ruhr Industrial Zone is located, has promulgated the "Haze Ordinance", due to pressure from economic interests and ensuring employment, pollution limits have been set relatively loosely.

The "environmental protection measure" most sought after by the business community at that time was the "high chimney" policy, which meant raising the chimney to 300 meters to reduce the concentration of pollutants in the lower atmosphere. Although this move effectively reduced the air pollution data in the Ruhr Industrial Area, it also brought more serious consequences. Half of Europe suffers from acid rain, which reduces crop yields, kills fish, and endangers the safety of drinking water.

There were 7.4 million hectares of forest in the original West Germany. By 1983, 34% were infected with dieback disease. The annual dieback volume accounted for more than 21% of the forest growth in the same year. More than 800,000 hectares of forest have been destroyed. This dieback disease Damage from acid rain. In the forests of the Ruhr industrial area at that time, bare trees, dead birds, and dead bees could be seen everywhere. Tens of thousands of children in the area were infected with special laryngitis every year.

Not only Germany, the United States, the United Kingdom and other countries face the same problem.

The Los Angeles photochemical smog incident is one of the world's most famous public hazard events. It occurred in Los Angeles in the early 1940s. Photochemical smog is produced by chemical reactions between large amounts of hydrocarbons and other components in the air under the action of sunlight. This smog contains ozone, NOx, acetaldehyde and other oxidants, and lingers in urban areas for a long time. In a photochemical smog incident in December 1952, more than 400 people over the age of 65 died in Los Angeles. In September 1955, due to air pollution and high temperatures, more than 400 people over the age of 65 died in just two days. Many people suffered from eye pain, headaches, difficulty breathing and other symptoms. Until the 1970s, the city of Los Angeles was known as "America's Smog City."

From the 19th century to the early 20th century, London residents used coal as the main fuel for daily cooking and heating, which produced a lot of smoke. In addition, exhaust gases emitted from thermal power plants and diesel locomotives also aggravate smog pollution. Due to limited climatic conditions, these smog envelope urban areas and are difficult to disperse, especially in winter. Since then, London has been known as the "Smog City".

The hazy scenery of "Oliver Twist" written by Dickens and Sherlock Holmes in Conan Doyle's book are fascinating. But in fact, Londoners of the book's era were deeply troubled by this. Dense fog can hinder traffic, and high concentrations of sulfur dioxide and smog particles can endanger residents' health.

The most serious smog pollution in London occurred in December 1952, known as the "1952 London Smog Incident" in history. Government reports indicate that approximately 4,000 people died and 100,000 were sickened. Other researchers put the death toll as high as 12,000.

Faced with such serious environmental problems, various countries have naturally thought about trying to control pollution, and have successively issued regulations to prevent and control pollution of air, water, radioactive substances, food, pesticides, etc., but there has been no substantial change; when cars began to become popular, emissions The exhaust gas makes environmental pollution worse.

It was not until the 1980s that Western countries basically controlled pollution and generally solved domestic environmental problems well.