China’s landlocked capital of 20m people has experienced record-breaking pollution over the last few days. Guardian partner, the Climate Desk, breaks down exactly what’s in the air.
via: What exactly is in Beijing’s polluted air? | Environment | guardian.co.uk.
A number of Chinese cities including Beijing continue to be covered in a blanket of smog as air pollution levels reach hazardous levels.
Watch the video here: Weather – China smog.
Keith Taylor, Green Party Member of the European Parliament for the South East region, writes of the growing problem to public health from air pollution in The Huff Posts Daily Blog.
“There is a growing realisation of the threats to public health from air pollution. In fact, breathing polluted air has become second only to smoking in the health damage it causes. In fact, breathing polluted air has become second only to smoking in the health damage it causes. About 70% of air pollution comes from transport, with the balance mainly coming from agriculture and domestic heating.
A recent government scientific report revealed that UK air pollution causes 29,000 deaths and contributes to over 200,000 premature deaths per year. In my own constituency, the south east of England, the problem of air pollution particularly affects both city dwellers and the thousands of people who commute into London.
It is children, the elderly and those people with existing respiratory illnesses – almost one in five of the population according to a recent poll – that suffer most from air pollution. Young children and toddlers in buggies are particularly vulnerable to pollution because they are at exhaust pipe level, where the level of pollutants is often highest.
Already this year we’ve seen law-breaking levels of pollution in Putney, south west London and we can expect many more breaches of the legislation across the country. We’re bound to see more examples like that of St Bede Primary School in Winchester which I visited last year, where parents, children and teachers are extremely worried about high levels of toxic nitrogen dioxide at the school. The same breaches of air safety affect the people I represent in cities such as Brighton & Hove, Canterbury and Southampton.”
When it comes to air pollution, the long-suffering residents of Beijing tend to think they have seen it all. But this weekend, instruments measuring the levels of particulate matter in the city’s famously noxious air broke all records.
The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre said levels of PM2.5, tiny particulate matter, had reached more than 600 micrograms per square metre in many areas, and Reuters said it may even have hit 900 – its worst-ever reading.
The World Health Organisation considers a safe daily level to be 25.
The artist Ai Weiwei offered his own succinct commentary on the city’s atmospheric conditions by donning a gas mask in a photograph he posted on Twitter, his salt-and-pepper beard and tufts of hair sticking out around the device amid the smog.
Children and the elderly were urged to stay indoors and some residents who ventured out wore face masks as the acrid murk entered its third day.
Air quality has long been a problem in the Chinese capital, but this weekend saw levels more than 30 times above the level judged safe by the World Health Organisation.
Breakneck economic growth, reliance on coal, dramatic expansion of car ownership and the widespread flouting of environmental laws have all contributed to China’s air pollution problems. But the intensity of the current problem appears to be weather-related. The monitoring centre said the heavy pollution had been trapped by an area of low pressure and warned that the problem was likely to continue until Tuesday.
It also urged people to avoid outdoor activities and said children and elderly people should not venture outdoors. Beijing began publishing PM2.5 readings early last year.
via Top tip if you’re going out in Beijing: don’t breathe | World news | The Guardian.
An air quality report from the Ministry of Environmental Protection ranked Handan, Baoding and Shijiazhuang in Hebei and Zhengzhou in Henan as the top four most-polluted cities among 120 monitored nationwide.
The Air Pollution Index in the four cities reached 500, the maximum on the index, on Friday. An API reading below 50 indicates excellent air quality, 50 to 100 indicates healthy air, and readings above 100 mean polluted air.
The bad weather is expected to continue, with cold fronts expected in mid-January, Ma Xuekuan, chief weather forecaster at the National Meteorological Center, told China Daily on Friday.
“Recent wet air, increasing pollutants and little wind mean haze formed easily. When cold snaps bring winds, haze and fog will be blown away,” Ma said.
The haze brought traffic problems in Henan, with eight expressways in the province closed on Thursday because visibility was below 200 meters. No accidents or casualties due to the haze have been reported so far.
via Fog, haze lead to big spike in pollution levels – China.org.cn.
China’s capital city of Beijing has been shrouded in thicker-than-usual pollution for several days, with air pollution indexes reaching dangerous levels. Local authorities have warned the severe pollution is likely to continue until Monday.
Monitors at the US Embassy in Beijing recorded an air-quality readings as high as of 481 on Saturday. The monitors measure the level of air-borne PM 2.5 particulates with the maximum reading of 500. The tiny particular matters are considered the most harmful to health.
A reading between 301 and 500 means the air is so hazardous that people should avoid outdoor physical activities.
Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center has reported readings of the tiny particular matter of between 176 and 442 from its monitors throughout the greater Beijing area from Friday.
via Air pollution in Beijing reaches hazardous levels | Inquirer News.
Harmful levels of traffic smog in “London’s most polluted high street” have already smashed annual limits just days into the year.
Calm weather conditions have sent readings of nitrogen dioxide — linked to asthma and lung damage — soaring off the scale in Putney High Street, according to campaigners.
The fumes are so bad that Putney shopkeepers are being advised to keep their doors shut for much of the day to protect customers and staff.
Concentrations of the gas in the street breached the upper safe limit of 200 micrograms per cubic metre in 72 “bad air” hours this year. The legal annual maximum set by the World Health Organisation and enshrined in law by Brussels and Westminster is 18 hours.
The average NO2 reading is 168 micrograms per cubic metre so far in 2013, compared with a legal limit of 40. The high readings are a setback for efforts by Wandsworth council and Transport for London to reduce emissions in Putney.
Dozens of diesel buses that use the many routes along the street have been replaced by cleaner hybrid versions and 85 more are being fitted with catalytic convertors. There are also moves to change the road layout to improve traffic flow.
According to the latest research, a majority (56 %) of Europeans believe that air quality has deteriorated in the last 10 years. In Italy, as many as 81 % hold this view, and in Cyprus, France, Greece, Hungary, Romania and Spain, 70-75 % of survey participants believe that this is the case. The research – a Eurobarometer called Attitudes of Europeans towards Air Quality – shows strong support for further action at EU level. Almost four out of five participants (79 %) believe that the EU should propose additional measures to address air pollution. The survey specifically asked participants if they were aware of EU air quality standards and national emission ceilings, and out of those who know about these instruments (25 % in both cases), more than half (58 % and 51 %) were of the view that they should be strengthened. The findings will now feed into an on-going review on EU air policy by the Commission which is due for the second half of 2013.
Janez Potočnik, European Commissioner for the Environment, said “Citizens want us to act and we will respond by reviewing our air policy in 2013. They are asking for more measures in key sectors, and better information on policy effectiveness. To meet these challenges we need to work together at all policy levels – and follow up with action on the ground.”
The survey reveals widespread dissatisfaction with actions currently being taken to address air quality problems, with seven out of ten Europeans (72%) considering themselves unhappy with efforts by public authorities to improve air quality. The survey also shows a general sense that the level of information about air quality is insufficient; almost six out of ten (59%) Europeans do not feel adequately informed about air quality issues, with 31 % of participants in Spain and 27 % in Luxemburg, Cyprus and Latvia of the view that they are not informed at all.
When asked about the most effective way to tackle air pollution, 43 % suggest stricter emission controls on industry and energy production. Emissions from vehicles (96 %), industry (92 %) and international transport (86 %) are considered to have the biggest influence on air pollution.
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