If you go to China, bring your face mask...
The Juggler
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http://www.ibtimes.com/fewer-chinese-ci ... s-1292047#
Fewer Chinese Cities Have Safe Air, China Government Environment Report Says
By Amrutha Gayathri | June 05 2013 8:07 AM
Only 27 out of 113 major cities in China met air quality safety standards last year, an annual report from the Chinese government released on Tuesday said, as pollution has emerged as one of the most serious challenges facing the nation.
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection said pollution in rural areas was also worsening, due to an increase in industrial and mining activities, as well as animal husbandry, South China Morning Post reported.
The report said 30 percent of the country’s major rivers were polluted, while 60 percent of tested groundwater was of “bad” quality.
The Chinese government has been facing increasing criticism from affluent urban residents, who object to the country’s policy of growth at all costs, ignoring environmental concerns.
Recent instances of heavy air pollution in several cities, including the capital, Beijing, and a series of food safety scandals have upped the pressure on authorities to seek action.
The government is expected to introduce tough environmental laws within this month to cut industrial emissions.
However, rural pollution may continue to be a challenge for the government, as experts say that China’s farms pose a greater threat to environment quality compared to the sources of pollution in urban areas, Reuters reported.
“With industrialization, urbanization and the modernization of agriculture, the situation for the rural environment has become grim,” the ministry report said. “The stand out points are an increase in pressure from mining pollution ... and severe pollution from the raising of livestock and poultry.”
The report has come under criticism for failing to mention findings of a national survey on soil pollution, and recent scandals involving rice contaminated by cadmium.
The report found a nominal reduction in emissions of pollutants from coal combustion and car exhausts, but it did not reveal any data on PM2.5 levels, which indicate the amount of particles found in the air, including dust, dirt, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets, considered a major health hazard and are largely caused by the combustion process in motor vehicles and industrial processes, among others.
The ministry said the air quality of 100 out of 113 cities could have been safe if they were assessed based on an old set of rules, which are now outdated after a new set of standards were put in place this year, SCMP reported.
Fewer Chinese Cities Have Safe Air, China Government Environment Report Says
By Amrutha Gayathri | June 05 2013 8:07 AM
Only 27 out of 113 major cities in China met air quality safety standards last year, an annual report from the Chinese government released on Tuesday said, as pollution has emerged as one of the most serious challenges facing the nation.
China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection said pollution in rural areas was also worsening, due to an increase in industrial and mining activities, as well as animal husbandry, South China Morning Post reported.
The report said 30 percent of the country’s major rivers were polluted, while 60 percent of tested groundwater was of “bad” quality.
The Chinese government has been facing increasing criticism from affluent urban residents, who object to the country’s policy of growth at all costs, ignoring environmental concerns.
Recent instances of heavy air pollution in several cities, including the capital, Beijing, and a series of food safety scandals have upped the pressure on authorities to seek action.
The government is expected to introduce tough environmental laws within this month to cut industrial emissions.
However, rural pollution may continue to be a challenge for the government, as experts say that China’s farms pose a greater threat to environment quality compared to the sources of pollution in urban areas, Reuters reported.
“With industrialization, urbanization and the modernization of agriculture, the situation for the rural environment has become grim,” the ministry report said. “The stand out points are an increase in pressure from mining pollution ... and severe pollution from the raising of livestock and poultry.”
The report has come under criticism for failing to mention findings of a national survey on soil pollution, and recent scandals involving rice contaminated by cadmium.
The report found a nominal reduction in emissions of pollutants from coal combustion and car exhausts, but it did not reveal any data on PM2.5 levels, which indicate the amount of particles found in the air, including dust, dirt, soot, smoke, and liquid droplets, considered a major health hazard and are largely caused by the combustion process in motor vehicles and industrial processes, among others.
The ministry said the air quality of 100 out of 113 cities could have been safe if they were assessed based on an old set of rules, which are now outdated after a new set of standards were put in place this year, SCMP reported.
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The poison from the poison stream caught up to you ELEVEN years ago and you floated out of here. Sept. 14, 08
but then big business moves somewhere else (like Viet Nam)....and that is already happening as the Chinese people demand better air...
Can't preach from the peanut gallery that they're bad while we suck it up like crack
The best solution: whenever possible, don't buy cheap crap made in China... or Vietnam, or Thailand or Mexico... etc, etc. Most of it is stuff none of need anyway. Better to buy domestic, durable (love that word!) goods that are useful and easy to repair, that have longevity and can be shared.
The response to this is often that people in third world economies need the income. I don't see how wrecking the planet by making other countries dependent on our wasteful buying habits is going to help anyone in the long run.
not true though. They also make the best of the best goods.
i cannot even imagine living in those kinds of conditions.
I've lived in China nearly six years and haven't lived in those conditions. Are we sure we're talking about the same country? Maybe there are two China's: The media China, and the real China?
Then again, I know the pollution get's bad in places like Beijing, but China's bigger than Beijing. And either way, when I went to Beijing, there were blue skies on both occasions. I suppose I must just be lucky.
Also have a coworker who just got back from beijing and shanghai and was having real trouble for about a week or so after
from The Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/ja ... dia-action
Beijing smog continues as Chinese state media urge more action
Unusually frank discussions of pollution come as Beijing implements new emergency response plan in response to smog
Severe smog and air pollution in Beijing
Severe smog and air pollution in Beijing, where hospitals reported increases of up to 30% in the number of patients reporting breathing problems. Photograph: HAP/Quirky China News / Rex Feat
China's state media have called for environmental improvements in unusually frank discussions of the country's pollution problem, as thick smog continues to shroud Beijing and other cities.
Stores sold out of masks and the capital implemented its new pollution emergency response plan for the first time after visibility plummeted at the weekend. Several construction sites were ordered to halt work, factories slowed production and authorities ordered a curb on the use of government cars. Schools cancelled outside activities and authorities advised residents to stay inside.
Hospitals reported increases of up to 30% in the number of patients reporting breathing problems as officials warned that the conditions were likely to last until Wednesday – a day longer than previously predicted – when winds should help to disperse the pollution.
Outside the capital there were mass flight delays and highway closures on Sunday. Visibility in Changsha, the capital of Hunan, reportedly dropped to 50m.
Beijing's levels are by far the worst recorded since the government began early last year releasing figures on PM2.5 particles – tiny particulate matter thought particularly damaging to health because it can penetrate deep into the lungs – and the US embassy began issuing its own measurements four years ago.
According to an official monitoring centre in Beijing, levels of PM2.5 were well above 600 micrograms per cubic metre in several places on Saturday, and may even have hit 900. Though Monday's level dropped to around 350, that is still far above the safe level of 25 designated by the World Health Organisation.
Pan Xiaochuan, the deputy director of the department of occupational and environmental health at Peking university, said the problem was caused by weather conditions rather than increased emissions, although some have suggested more people are burning coal due to a particularly cold winter.
He said stricter regulations on emissions were needed in areas around Beijing, but added: "The government responded quickly this time. CCTV [the state broadcaster] news has reported the pollution. It shows the transparency of the government's work has been enhanced. It is a new phenomenon."
State newspapers have run highly critical articles saying more needed to be done to tackle the problem at its source.
"How can we get out of this suffocating siege of pollution?" the People's Daily, the official Communist party newspaper, asked in a front-page editorial.
"Let us clearly view managing environmental pollution with a sense of urgency."
It said around half of more than 70 Chinese cities monitored for air quality showed severe pollution over the weekend.
The populist state-run Global Times newspaper said the problem had triggered public calls to shift development "away from the previous fixation on economic growth", while the China Youth Daily titled a front-page commentary: "More suffocating than the haze is the weakness in response."
Well-known environmentalist Ma Jun said: "Given the public's ability to spread this information, especially on social media, the government itself has to make adjustments."
While Chinese environmental regulations have become far more stringent, environmentalists have complained that officials are often reluctant to enforce standards for fear of holding back economic growth.
But John Cai, the director of the centre for healthcare management and policy at Beijing's China Europe International Business School, warned: "The increased disease burden [due to poor air quality] has caused a serious financial burden on government and individuals.
"The recent serious pollution will send a serious warning to the government and will have an important impact in making the government speed up its regulation and enforcement."
Shops have been unable to keep up with the surge in demand for masks and air purifiers, with many running out.
"[Our] masks were not specially designed to prevent PM 2.5, but they all sold out anyway. We are trying to purchase more," said an assistant at the Fujitang drug store in Beijing.
An employee at the White Pagoda drugstore added: "People didn't come here to buy one or two, but ordered a lot for their friends and family, and companies came here to buy for their staff, too. "
At a Sundan appliances store in central Beijing, sales assistant Ms Jiang said sales of air purifiers had increased roughly tenfold. The Yuanda Group said it had upped production of the machines because sales had risen recently due to poor air quality throughout China.
After taking a look at the photo posted above and then reading this:
http://news.msn.com/world/chinas-smog-f ... ijing-bbqs
China's smog fix: A crackdown on outdoor Beijing BBQ's?
Beijing is stepping up inspections of unlicensed skewer sellers, but it's unclear if the move will actually reduce the city's notorious pollution.
China's latest solution to its pollution problem? A crackdown on street barbecues.
I can't help but think, WTF? Someone really needs to tell these people to "crack down" on street barbeques? They can't figure this out for themselves? Truly insane.
I heard only 50 people were killed? That can't be accurate.