Beijing Smog Off The Charts

[Romero]

Air pollution in Beijing prompts unusual transparency from Chinese government



One of Beijing's worst rounds of air pollution kept schoolchildren indoors and sent coughing residents to hospitals Monday, but this time something was different about the murky haze: the government's transparency in talking about it.



While welcomed by residents and environmentalists, Beijing's new openness about smog also put more pressure on the government to address underlying causes, including a lag in efforts to expand Western-style emissions limits to all of the vehicles in Beijing's notoriously thick traffic.



"Really awful. Extremely awful," Beijing office worker Cindy Lu said of the haze as she walked along a downtown sidewalk. But she added: "Now that we have better information, we know how bad things really are and can protect ourselves and decide whether we want to go out."



"Before, you just saw the air was bad but didn't know how bad it really was," she said.



Government officials – who have played down past periods of heavy smog – held news conferences and posted messages on microblogs discussing the pollution.



"I think there's been a very big change," prominent Beijing environmental campaigner Ma Jun said, adding that the government knows it no longer has a monopoly on information about the environment. "Given the public's ability to spread this information, especially on social media, the government itself has to make adjustments."



Air pollution is a major problem in China due to the country's rapid pace of industrialization, reliance on coal power, explosive growth in vehicle ownership and disregard for environmental laws, with development often taking priority over health. The pollution typically gets worse in the winter because of an increase in coal burning.



According to the government monitoring, levels of PM2.5 particles were above 700 micrograms per cubic meter on Saturday, and declined by Monday to levels around 350 micrograms – but still way above the World Health Organization's safety levels of 25.



In separate monitoring by the U.S. Embassy, levels peaked Saturday at 886 micrograms – and the air quality was labeled as "beyond index."



http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/14/extremely-awful-off-the-charts-air-pollution-in-beijing-prompts-unusual-transparency-from-chinese-government/">//http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/01/14/extremely-awful-off-the-charts-air-pollution-in-beijing-prompts-unusual-transparency-from-chinese-government/

[Obvious Li]

personally i think the govt. has vastly underestimated the effects of this pollution on their attempts to modernize.....in talking to many of my friends they were universal in stating they would not work in the bigger centers and would never move there families just for the health reasons from pollution.....i'm sure upper and middle class chinese will soon tire of breathing this foul air much longer as well...

[Anonymous]

personally i think the govt. has vastly underestimated the effects of this pollution on their attempts to modernize.....in talking to many of my friends they were universal in stating they would not work in the bigger centers and would never move there families just for the health reasons from pollution.....i'm sure upper and middle class chinese will soon tire of breathing this foul air much longer as well...

I have relatives from Taiwan working on the mainland that have said the same thing Obvious Li..



My cousin has a very good position in Chengdu but the dangerous pollution levels are affecting the health of him and his family.

[Gary Oak]

I remember going jogging outside of Shenzen and the air was so bad I had to stop jogging. I was recently there though and the air is far better now

[Anonymous]

I remember going jogging outside of Shenzen and the air was so bad I had to stop jogging. I was recently there though and the air is far better now

I remember the air is Zhuhau was acceptable..



Not a bad little city really and convenient to Macau.

[Gary Oak]

I do like Zhuhai, Macao since China took half of it's gangsters and put a bullet in their skulls has been a great place ever since. CAnada should do this too

[Anonymous]

I do like Zhuhai, Macao since China took half of it's gangsters and put a bullet in their skulls has been a great place ever since. CAnada should do this too

That is not really what makes a city great in my opinion.

[Gary Oak]

In order to make Macao the  great place it is now it was imperative

[Anonymous]

In order to make Macao the  great place it is now it was imperative

It is easy to keep people obedient with the fear of execution...I don't want to live in that kind of fear though.