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| Beijing choked by pollution at dangerous levels | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: 12 Jan 2013, 11:02 PM (175 Views) | |
| skibboy | 12 Jan 2013, 11:02 PM Post #1 |
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12 JANUARY 2013 Beijing choked by pollution at dangerous levels ![]() Severe pollution clouds the Beijing skyline on January 12, 2013. Dense smog has shrouded Beijing, with pollution at hazardous levels for a second day and residents advised to stay indoors. ![]() Pedestrians wearing masks wait to cross a road during severe pollution in Beijing on January 12, 2013. Dense smog has shrouded Beijing, with pollution at hazardous levels for a second day and residents advised to stay indoors. ![]() Traffic makes its way through Beijing on January 12, 2013. Dense smog has shrouded Beijing, with pollution at hazardous levels for a second day and residents advised to stay indoors. AFP - Dense smog shrouded Beijing on Saturday, with pollution at hazardous levels for a second day and residents advised to stay indoors, state media said. The municipal environment warning centre issued an alert advising the elderly, children, and those suffering respiratory or cardiovascular illness to avoid going out or doing strenuous exercise, Xinhua reported. Those who did venture out wore facemasks for protection, with visibility low, the skyline shrouded, and the sun hidden in the smog. Air quality in Beijing showed airborne particles with a diameter small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs at a reading of 456 micrograms per cubic metre, the warning centre said. The quality is considered good when the figure stands at less than 100. But a reading shown on the United States embassy website in Beijing was above 800. Beijing only measures up to a maximum value of 500, with the US embassy tweeting that their own readings were "beyond index". Last year Beijing said it was illegal for foreign embassies to issue their own air quality readings, but the US said its diplomatic missions in China would not stop tweeting levels, which were useful to its citizens living abroad. The heavy pollution is expected to last another three days, with weather conditions preventing pollutants from dispersing, the warning centre said, according to Xinhua. Fog also covered vast swathes of east and central China also closed numerous highways and delayed flights in several provinces, it added. China's air quality is among the worst in the world, international organisations say, citing massive coal consumption and car-choked city streets in the world's biggest market.Source:
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| skibboy | 22 Jan 2013, 02:00 AM Post #2 |
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Beijing tries to clean up its act By Leslie Hook, FT.com January 21, 2013 ![]() A couple wearing face masks walks in a busy shopping area during polluted weather in Beijing on January 13, 2013. (Financial Times) -- China's smog-ridden capital issued an unprecedented set of new anti-pollution measures at the weekend, as the authorities scramble to respond to rising public pressure over the city's deteriorating air quality. The far-reaching measures target everything from outdoor barbecues and dusty construction sites, to paint fumes and idling car engines, representing the city's broadest effort yet to fight the persistent pollution haze over Beijing. The Beijing city government published a draft of the new rules on its website on Saturday and asked for public feedback -- an unusual step that illustrates how carefully the government is treading around the hot-button issue. Earlier this month, an episode of extraordinarily bad pollution in Beijing sparked public outcry over air quality, as well as causing a sudden increase in hospital admissions for respiratory illnesses and heart attacks. China's double-digit economic growth in the past three decades has been accompanied by widespread environmental degradation, of which air pollution in the capital has become the latest, and most visible, symbol. Although the Beijing city government has in the past tried to conceal its pollution problem by manipulating air quality data, public pressure has forced it adopt a radically more open stance. The city government now publishes hourly pollution data and even pollution forecasts to help citizens deal with the haze. In a sign of the growing severity of the problem, the new regulations published on Saturday describe "emergency measures" for days when pollution becomes a "danger to human health", including mandatory factory closures and restrictions on vehicles. The draft rules also outline a new cap-and-trade scheme for key pollutants, and will require the largest culprits to publicly disclose their emissions -- which environmentalists said was a step toward greater transparency. "The draft law it is really trying to tackle the issue in a proactive way, trying to tackle the pollution at its source," said Ma Jun, a prominent environmentalist in Beijing and author of China's Water Crisis. However, he added that firm implementation of the rules, which has thwarted similar environmental laws in the past, would continue to be a challenge. The draft regulations, which span dozens of pages, also describe a range of smaller measures that could change some of the key features of life in the capital, if strictly implemented. Restaurants and caterers will be banned from burning coal -- a measure that will threaten Beijing's beloved lamb kebabs, known as yangrou chuan. Vehicles will be prohibited from idling their engines for more than three minutes if parked near a school or a hospital, and cars will be subject to random testing for emissions compliance. Some parts of the new regulations simply reiterate rules that were already in place -- such as requirements for dust-control measures at construction sites -- but have been poorly implemented because the environmental authorities have lacked clout. "To make this happen the key thing is oversight," said Zhou Rong, air pollution specialist at Greenpeace in Beijing. "The government put this up on the web because they understand that everyone is watching this issue -- this is a big improvement." Source:
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| skibboy | 31 Jan 2013, 01:48 AM Post #3 |
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30 JANUARY 2013 Smog-blanketed Beijing urges residents to stay indoors ![]() Shop assistants wear face masks as they welcome customers at a store in Beijing, January 29, 2013. Beijing urged residents to stay indoors on Wednesday as emergency measures were rolled out aimed at countering a heavy cloud of smog blanketing the Chinese capital and swathes of the country. ![]() People wearing face masks walk through a park during heavily polluted weather in Beijing on January 30, 2013. The municipal government said children, the elderly and people sensitive to poor air quality should remain indoors, after authorities announced the closure of 103 factories and ordered 30 percent of official cars off the road on Tuesday. AFP - Beijing urged residents to stay indoors on Wednesday as emergency measures were rolled out aimed at countering a heavy cloud of smog blanketing the Chinese capital and swathes of the country. The municipal government said children, the elderly and people sensitive to poor air quality should remain indoors, after authorities announced the closure of 103 factories and ordered 30 percent of official cars off the road on Tuesday. As the thick cloud of toxic air choked Beijing for the third consecutive day, the now familiar sight of mask-wearing pedestrians venturing out on heavily-polluted roads was broadcast regularly on state media. Visibility in central Beijing was reduced to 300 metres (yards), according to China Central Television, causing 29 flights to be cancelled and another seven delayed. The state-run broadcaster also showed images of the eastern province of Jiangsu -- some 1,000 kilometres (600 miles) south of Beijing -- covered in a thick blanket of smog. The US embassy's air quality index reading for Beijing stood at 336 and "hazardous" at 1:00 pm on Wednesday. The index rates a reading over 150 as "unhealthy" and above 300 as "hazardous". Meanwhile, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Centre gave the figure as 292 at midday, indicating the capital's air was "heavily polluted". The toxic air is the fourth serious bout in recent weeks, and the winter of smog has sparked an Internet outcry and anger from state media. China's pollution problems are blamed on the country's rapid urbanisation and dramatic economic development. Source:
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| skibboy | 1 Feb 2013, 12:49 AM Post #4 |
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31 JANUARY 2013 Beijing hospital visits rise due to pollution: media ![]() Chinese military police march through Tiananmen Square blanketed in pollution in Beijing on January 30, 2013. Doctors in Beijing said Thursday that hospital admissions for respiratory complaints rose in recent days during the latest bout of pollution, as air quality in the city began to improve. AFP - Doctors in Beijing said Thursday that hospital admissions for respiratory complaints rose in recent days during the latest bout of pollution, as air quality in the city began to improve. The US embassy's air quality index stood at 233 on Thursday morning, or "very unhealthy", after it peaked at more than 500 on Tuesday. The Beijing municipality's figure was 184 at 10:00 am on Thursday, or "lightly polluted". Beijing and vast swathes of China have experienced several bouts of heavy pollution over the last month, lowering visibility and leading to transport disruption. The number of patients admitted to several hospitals in Beijing complaining of respiratory problems rose 20 percent "in recent days," the Beijing Morning Post reported. Half of those admitted to a children's hospital in Beijing were suffering from respiratory infections, the newspaper said. The pollution in the capital has been blamed on emissions from coal-burning in power stations, and exhaust fumes from vehicles on Beijing's choked streets. Beijing has ordered the emergency closure of factories and removed government vehicles from the streets in an effort to reduce the haze, but experts say more radical controls are needed to effectively combat the problem. China's meteorological agency said the smog in Beijing was likely to disperse on Thursday evening when the city will be hit by strong winds. Source:
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| skibboy | 1 Mar 2013, 02:07 AM Post #5 |
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28 FEBRUARY 2013 Beijing residents bemoan smog and sandstorms ![]() Chinese tourists look at Jingshan Park through thick smog, Beijing on January 31, 2013. Beijing residents were urged to stay indoors Thursday as pollution levels soared before a sandstorm brought further misery to China's capital. AFP - Beijing residents were urged to stay indoors Thursday as pollution levels soared before a sandstorm brought further misery to China's capital. A thick blanket of smog covered large swathes of the country in the morning, causing residents to once again dig out face-masks as China's gruelling winter of pollution continues. The noxious haze saw the US embassy's air quality index reading for Beijing hit 516 at 6am, signalling air quality worse than the highest classification of "hazardous". Those who ventured out in mid-morning were confronted with swirling clouds of dust, which the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center said had been blown in from Inner Mongolia. "We would hope that everyone stays indoors as much as possible and that people carry out appropriate measures for protection," the agency said in a posting on its verified account on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter. State broadcaster China Central Television showed images of tree branches being blown onto Beijing's streets, and the newsreader urged residents to keep windows closed because of the risk of windows being blown out and showering pedestrians with glass. The weather was also the subject of resigned discussion on China's Internet message boards, which attracted widespread anger in previous bouts of heavy smog. "We have gone from toxic pollution to dust pollution," said one poster on Sina Weibo. "We lead a really varied life in Beijing." Many parts of China have endured repeated episodes of toxic air in recent weeks, sparking demands for government action from both netizens and state media. Air quality improved during the day, with the US Embassy index reaching 168 at 1pm. Source:
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