POLLUTION UPDATE : Air quality ‘drops’ in Shanghai as PM2.5 spikes in fog
Shanghai‘s density of PM2.5 pollutants jumped this morning to 183.9 micrograms per cubic meter around noon, the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center reported. Shanghai Daily report.
The city’s PM2.5 readings remained below 40 micrograms per cubic meter between yesterday afternoon and 8am this morning, but the foggy weather caused the PM2.5 figure to shoot up afterwards.
Readings collected at two monitoring stations in downtown Hongkou and Yangpu districts exceeded 200 micrograms at noon, the center said. The city currently has ten PM2.5 monitoring stations.
PM2.5 stands for airborne particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, which mainly come from automobile emissions and smoke from power plants and factories. They are the main cause of urban smog and haze and are harmful to human health.
Related articles
- Beijing air quality to be better monitored (guardian.co.uk)
- EPA’s illegal human experiments: Agency failed to warn tests potentially lethal (junkscience.com)
- Beijing completes network of air quality monitors (ctvnews.ca)
- Beijing to give clearer indication of air quality (sfgate.com)
- anchor Beijing-Washington rift on air quality measurement (thehimalayantimes.com)
- Beijing completes air quality monitoring system (kansascity.com)
- Beijing Completes Air Quality Monitoring System (abcnews.go.com)
- Beijing sets up air quality monitors (todayonline.com)
- Beijing’s PM2.5 monitoring network releases complete data (wantchinatimes.com)
Pollution Update : Weather debate shrouded in fog
Capital’s air quality rating raises public health concerns, Li Jing, Duan Yan and Cui Jia report in The China Daily.
“Fog is not pollution,” Du Shaozhong said in his micro blog on Monday morning, in response to a question about Beijing’s poor air quality.
MY OTHER BLOG AT Learnfromnature.net AND ON TWITTER http://twitter.com/#!/LearnFromNature
It was the third consecutive day of hazy weather, with visibility less than 1 kilometer. And it was the third time in a month that the capital was blanketed in thick smog.
“In Chinese we usually say a fairyland is wreathed in fog. How can it be a fairyland if it is surrounded by pollution?” asked Du, deputy director of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau. “But it is true that fog can trap pollutants, which will affect air quality.”
The official rating for air quality by Du’s bureau on Monday was “slightly polluted” with inhalable particles.
Du blamed stagnant weather conditions – light wind and low atmospheric pressure – a situation not uncommon for Beijing when seasons change.
“At such points, we still have to rely on natural conditions to clear away pollutants, considering we have such a large scale of pollution emissions in the city and a limited environmental capacity,” he said.
Beijing residents responded with their views on the air quality through Weibo, a micro-blogging website operated by Sina Corp. Some posted photos of buildings blurred by the thick haze, and some said they feel choked by the smoky air.
“It’s like walking in a huge chimney, or having countless people keep puffing secondhand smoke at you – all the time,” Yanhanyh wrote on Weibo.
“I don’t believe the air is only ‘slightly polluted’ today. I started to cough after 10 minutes’ walk in the open air, and I don’t even dare to let my kid go out,” said another Weibo user, Dapeng.
By Tuesday night, a little drizzle had begun to refresh the city, but stronger winds and rains are still needed to clear up the haze.
A public trust crisis is spreading over the official readings of Beijing’s air quality, especially when some residents find alternatives that are more in line with their own senses.
Source : http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/usa/china/2011-11/02/content_14019018.htm
Related articles
- U.S. readings challenge China’s smog claims (cnn.com)
- China’s official smog reports challenged (edition.cnn.com)
- You: Beijing air pollution ‘hazardous’: US embassy (france24.com)
- Beijing smog: will China learn from the West’s mistakes? (blogs.telegraph.co.uk)
- Identifying Indoor Air Quality Problems (everydayhealth.com)
- Investigate Your Indoor Air Quality (everydayhealth.com)
- Seasonal Tips for Clean, Safe Air (everydayhealth.com)
- Air Emergency: Beijing (theatlantic.com)
- Does Your Home Need a Clean Air System? (everydayhealth.com)
- London To Ban Dirty Vans And Minibuses In “Low Emissions Zone”(fastcompany.com)
Recent Comments