Environmental awareness among Chinese university students

The purpose of this study is to gain insights into the environmental awareness of Chinese young adults and their perceptions of the health risk associated with different types of environmental issues, and especially air pollution.  Rapid economic growth in China during the last several decades has come at a cost of environmental degradation.  Water pollution, desertification, unsafe food, and air pollution have been putting hundreds of millions of lives in this 21^st century economic powerhouse at risk.  There is much more transparency about these issues in Chinese media and they have been widely discussed by international experts, economists, and the Chinese government. Yet, it is not clear how knowledgeable Chinese people are about the environmental dangers to which they are exposed.  This study explores the air pollution awareness among Chinese educated youth, those who will most likely become China’s middle class in the near future.  We surveyed 186 college students at a major university in Shanghai.  We asked them to name the most polluted cities in China, existing air pollution measures, and the level of pollution dangerous for health.  We also addressed such questions as the main causes of urban air pollution, the role of government in controlling them, and the relationship between environmental issues and health.  We further investigated students’ positions in regards to the trade-off between the fast economic growth and the quality of air.  The study’s results are compared to actual reports on pollution levels in China and a number of important implications have been drawn.  The study provides valuable insights into the future development of attitudes toward environmental threats and probability of more stringent environmental control in the near future.