The pollution is threatening lives and crops
On Wednesday morning in Beijing, we fitted our two boys with their
minimasks and sent them off to school. Air pollution, according to the
U.S.-embassy index, had hit a dangerous particulate concentration of
497. (The World Health Organization warns against daily exposure to PM
2.5 — fine particulates above 25.) At 500 on the Beijing scale — which
the U.S. embassy has dryly dubbed “beyond index,” because who would
think air pollution could climb so high? — school would be shuttered.
Three index points were all that were keeping our kids in class.By the time our children, ages 6 and 4, were starting school, the U.S. air-quality index had hit 512. By 11:00 a.m., it had reached 537. The air is off-the-charts bad. The U.S. embassy cautions that at this level, “everyone may experience more serious health effects.” Even the Chinese government, whose own air-quality monitoring often records pollution at a lower intensity than the American embassy does, recommends that residents should wear masks and avoid outdoor activities.
As the foul air intensified over the weekend, the nation’s senior
climate-change official noted that “China’s pollution is at an
unbearable stage.” Another scientist compared the smog blanket to living through a “nuclear winter”
because the air is so impenetrable that crops are not getting enough
light and becoming stunted, threatening disaster for many farmers.
As the air pollution has worsened over the past couple of years,
local awareness has spiked, in part because state media are now allowed
to report on the smog. People who used to complain to me about the
“weather” now acknowledge a human hand in the acrid air. Locals are
demanding their government do something; a slew of new antipollution
measures have been unveiled, but to little apparent effect so far. One
man in the notoriously smoggy northern city of Shijiazhuang is trying to
sue the city government for not adequately tackling the foul air,
according to the Yanzhao Evening News, a local paper. He is believed to be the first person to launch such a lawsuit.
Meanwhile, on Feb. 25, China’s President Xi Jinping left the
climate-controlled confines of China’s leadership compound for a stroll
through Beijing’s historic alleyways. The walkabout was unexpected,
although Xi had taken another surprise tour of the capital two months
before. Contrary to his government’s own advice on the toxic air, the
Chinese leader did not wear a mask.
Lintao Zhang / Getty Images
A general view of the pollution covered Beijing CBD on Feb. 25, 2014 in Beijing.
Kyodo / Landov
People look at an area of central Beijing blanketed in smog on Feb. 24, 2014.
Jason Lee / Reuters
Cars drive on the Three Ring Road amid the heavy haze in Beijing, Feb. 26, 2014.
Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images
A
tourist wearing a face mask climbs Jingshan Hill beside the Forbidden
City as heavy air pollution continues to shroud Beijing on Feb. 26,
2014.
ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images
ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images
CCTV Building is shrouded in heavy smog on Feb. 25, 2014, in Beijing.
Mark Ralston / AFP / Getty Images
Chinese tourists wearing face masks visit Tiananmen Square as heavy air pollution continues to shroud Beijing on Feb. 26, 2014.
ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images
ChinaFotoPress / Getty Images
Buildings are shrouded in heavy smog on Feb. 25, 2014, in Qingdao, Shandong Province.
Alexander F. Yuan / AP
A
man and a car travelling on a road are obscured in heavy haze on a
severely polluted day in Pingshan county of Shijiazhuang, in northern
China's Hebei province, Feb. 26, 2014.
Alexander F. Yuan / AP
Children
walk back home after school on a severely polluted day in Shijiazhuang,
in northern China's Hebei province, Feb. 26, 2014.
Ran Wen / EPA
A woman tries to take photos on the river bank in the haze in southwest Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 23, 2014.
Alexander F. Yuan / AP
A
farmer shovels in a field near electric pylons in heavy haze on a
severely polluted day in Shijiazhuang, in northern China's Hebei
province, Feb. 26, 2014.
Alexander F. Yuan / AP
A
chimney of a heating plant is obscured by heavy haze as commuters walk
through a bridge linking a subway station and a bus station on a
severely polluted day in Beijing, Feb. 25, 2014.
China: Beijing suffers under smog for seventh day
As Beijing suffers its seventh day of smog, The Telegraph's Malcolm Moore says that people are getting exasperated with the government's inaction over the problem
10:34AM GMT 26 Feb 2014
Beijing's official smog reading for PM 2.5 - small airborne particles which easily penetrate the lungs and have been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths - stood at 501 micrograms per cubic metre on Wednesday afternoon. The World Health Organisation's recommended safe limit is 25.
An alternative measure by the US embassy in Beijing said PM 2.5 levels were at 542 in the city.
The capital was on its sixth day of an "orange" smog alert - the second-highest on the scale - with the air tasting gritty and visibility down to a few hundred metres.
Malcolm Moore in Beijing says that "you can barely see the skyscrapers" in the city because of the smog.
The choking smog has seen sales of anti-pollution products boom and online
face-mask stores were struggling to meet demand.
Concerns over the impact on children's health were particularly heightened,
with most schools in Beijing keeping students indoors all day long according
to Chinese media reports.
Cities across China have been hit by severe air pollution in recent years, much of it caused by emissions from coal-burning power stations.
It has become a major source of popular discontent with the authorities.
President Xi Jinping paid a rare visit to one of Beijing's smog-hit streets - without a face-mask - drawing praise from Internet users for his latest apparent attempt to portray himself as close to ordinary citizens. One widely shared online headline read: "Breathing the same air, sharing the same fate".
The pollution, which tends to worsen in winter, is blamed on the use of coal for energy, dramatic economic development, increasing car use and climatic factors.
The National Meteorological Centre has said the pollution was expected to continue until Thursday.
Source: AFP
Cities across China have been hit by severe air pollution in recent years, much of it caused by emissions from coal-burning power stations.
It has become a major source of popular discontent with the authorities.
President Xi Jinping paid a rare visit to one of Beijing's smog-hit streets - without a face-mask - drawing praise from Internet users for his latest apparent attempt to portray himself as close to ordinary citizens. One widely shared online headline read: "Breathing the same air, sharing the same fate".
The pollution, which tends to worsen in winter, is blamed on the use of coal for energy, dramatic economic development, increasing car use and climatic factors.
The National Meteorological Centre has said the pollution was expected to continue until Thursday.
Source: AFP
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