For the residents of Harbin and cities like it, the government's ability to stem pollution is a matter of life and death -- literally.

A recent study found that severe pollution has slashed an average of five and half years from life expectancy in northern China. The researchers made this determination by comparing the health of northern Chinese to citizens living south of the Huai River.

For decades, free winter heating was provided to areas north of the river, while no such luxury was extended in the south due to budgetary restraints. The free heating was powered by coal boilers, which resulted in significantly higher levels of pollution.