US scientistswarn that Chinese air pollution could increase storms over the Pacific Ocean, altering weather models in North America. A team of experts has shown that pollution from Asia is leading to stronger cyclones, increased precipitation and warmer air in the mid-Pacific moving towards the north pole. Moreover, most of this pollution is arising from China. According to the study, all these changes could determine problematic consequences on US weather’s conditions. The findings are the results of advanced computer models, used by the experts to analyze the interactions between clouds and fine airborne particles, particularly manmade ones such as those emitted from vehicles and coal-fired power plants. This study plays an important role because it shows for the first time a global multi-scale perspective of the climatic effects of pollution outflows from Asia. The intensification of the Pacific storm track, that is a narrow area over the ocean where storms that pass over the US begin to gather is just one strong evidence of the effects of this climate impact. As the climate experts have explained, mid-latitude storms develop off Asia tracking across the Pacific, then come in to the west coast of the US. Additionally, these climate changes would highly influence the strength of the storms, the density of the clouds, and the measures of the rainfall. The Chinese government is adopting measures to stop the alarming increase of pollution, in order to safeguard the environment, after 30 years of unchecked growth. Despite various efforts to reduce the level of pollution, the Ministry of Environment has shown that 71 out of 74 cities monitored by the central government have failed to reach air quality standards. Moreover, China is strongly following its commitment to establish stricter environmental laws in order to give authorities the power to close polluting factories, punish officials, and restrict industrial development in some areas. This turn will be the first change since 1989, making a breakthrough in the Chinese development, in order to prioritize the environmental protection over economic growth. As such, the environment represents apriority in the political agenda. Despite this advance, the Chinese legal system is often hostile to litigation related to pollution’s matters, as many cases have shown. In a recent case of compensation demand due to water pollution, the court has claimed that under civil procedure law, the litigants were unqualified to sue because only agencies or organisations could press charges in pollution-related cases, and they needed an official authorisation to take action. The gLAWcal Team Tuesday, 15 April 2014 (Source: The Guardian)