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Page added on January 14, 2013
Beijing air pollution soars to hazard level
Air pollution in the Chinese capital Beijing has reached levels judged as hazardous to human health.
Readings from both official and unofficial monitoring stations suggested that Saturday’s pollution has soared past danger levels outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The air tastes of coal dust and car fumes, two of the main sources of pollution, says a BBC correspondent.
Economic growth has left air quality in many cities notoriously poor.
A heavy smog has smothered Beijing for many days, says the BBC’s Damian Grammaticas, in the capital.
By Saturday afternoon it was so thick you could see just a few hundred metres in the city centre, our correspondent says, with tower blocks vanishing into the greyness.
Hazy view
Even indoors the air looked hazy, he says.
Some people are wearing masksWHO guidelines say average concentrations of the tiniest pollution particles – called PM2.5 – should be no more than 25 microgrammes per cubic metre.
Air is unhealthy above 100 microgrammes. At 300, all children and elderly people should remain indoors.
Official Beijing city readings on Saturday suggested pollution levels over 400. Unofficial reading from a monitor at the US embassy recorded 800.
Once inhaled, the tiny particles can cause respiratory infections, as well as increased mortality from lung cancer and heart disease.
Last year Chinese authorities warned the US embassy not to publish its data. But the embassy said the measurements were for the benefit of embassy personnel and were not citywide.
12 Comments on "Beijing air pollution soars to hazard level"
BillT on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 4:12 am
Top pic looks like Pittsburgh in the 50s. Any industrial area is going to have smog. In Pittsburgh, you could only see up to about the 10th floor on a normal summer day. Coal towns were obvious by their coating of black dust everywhere, including the river running through it. This is nothing new even now in the Us, but you will never see it in the news.
Arthur on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 7:02 am
London had this 150 years ago, today all cars in western Europe have catalysts and these scenes are a thing of the past. China has a long way to go before any notion of ‘Chinese Century’ will become reality. it won’t. China will have to cope with decline just like everybody else and it will be handicapped more than average because of its excessive large population.
DC on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 9:31 am
Sadly this is not ‘new’ news, rather old news. China is paying the price for its reckless embrace of North American style car-dependency. Of course, people here cling to the myth that our mobile trash bins are ‘cleaner’ or ‘more advanced, and that sometime, in the distant future, China too will get around to cleaning up its act. Our cars are slightly less dirty than the ones of decades ago. The only difference is, the oil-auto complex here undertook a strenuous effort to make the pollution less obvious, why? In order to forestall any attempts by the public or govt to demand clean(er) alternative to gas-powered cars. And it worked….
Well, its a nice fable, but that all it is. Chinas cars are essentially the same as ours, they are not going to get any ‘cleaner’ than ours are. So what they have now, is what they are stuck with. Only way to get rid car pollution is get rid of the cars. Of course, China bet the farm of car dependency, copying amerikans, Canadians, Australians modes of living.
Big mistake there. Ironically, the pollution caused by the production and servicing of cars, is as bad, if not greater, than the pollution directly produced by the cars themselves. Its dirty from start to finish, a fact I hope China realizes.
BillT on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 11:49 am
BTW: That smog is the result of the factories WE shipped there over the last 20 years. If they had remained here, that would be any major city in the Us. And Europe, don’t feel too smug. Coal is what you will soon be returning to as it will be affordable by the masses and dirtier than the coal of 150 years ago. Those ‘renewables’ will prove to not be the answer to your energy problems. Especially when Russia cuts off your gas some winter because they are no longer accepting Euros in payment and you don’t have enough gold left to cover the bill.
Arthur on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 1:17 pm
The West has a powerful environmental movement since the seventees and it accomplished a lot. Most Europeans are convinced that we need to go ‘green’, that solar and wind are good, that global warming is a threat, all cars have cathalysts, the rivers are clean again in Europe, recycling is the norm, garbage is collected separatedly, fuel efficient cars are much more accepted in Europe than in the US, where the pickup and SUV ruled supreme until recently and Europe is leading the renewable energy movement by far. Fracking is largely rejected, except in Poland. The peakoil movement has its roots in that movement (Club of Rome). Nothing of the sort is happening in China, that merely tries to copy the material standards of the West regardless of the environmental consequences. An average Chinese still makes less than a person from the Caraibian. So I am not that impressed as you seem to be with China, call me smug if you want.
Russia is an extremely reliable deliverer of energy and other goods, it was only the Ukraine who stupidly followed US advice (read jewish advice, Soros, Orange revolution) and distanced itself from Moscow. Russia retaliated by charging normal market prices for energy, which the Ukraine could not pay and started to tap from transit pipelines. That’s why Russia was forced to temporarily halt deliveries to Europe. That is no longer possible with Northstream and soon Southstream. Russia essentially is paid by Europe by its industrial products and it does not matter if payment is done in euros, ruble or any other kind of IOYs. And as long as the US behaves like a potential adversary of Russia, Russia will support the euro, just to drive a wedge between Europe and the US. The Russian state is for a large part for its income dependent on fossil fuels and Europe is its best paying customer by far. Russia will never cut-off fuel deliveries to Europe, as long as Europe will not let itself be drawn into NWO adventures by the US (too much). And besides, the Ukraine has come to its senses and has positioned itself again between Europe and Russia and the corrupt US satrap and ‘gasprincess’ Timoshenko is in jail, where she belongs. Remember that France and Germany teamed up with Moscow against the US in 2003 and its ill-fated WMD safari in Iraq, based on lies. The US took revenge by calling the French ‘cheese eating surrender monkeys’ and renaming the french fries ‘freedom fries’ in the Pentagon canteen. That was about it.lol Iraq was a turning point in US-European relations and a possible (but unlikely, Hagel?) war will finish the job and terminate the Atlantic alliance for ever. Russia will be a reliable deliverer of gas until 2025-2030 and by that time the energy transition potential will largely be completed in Europe: smart grid 2020, super grid 2025 with hydro storage facilities in Norway, domestic electricity generation 100% wind/solar/hydro. Cars will be replaced by streamlined 120 mpg 1/2-seaters and used sparingly. Houses will be fully isolated, using heatpumps and geothermal energy from the garden:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcWq4xGSZu4
Hugh Culliton on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 1:34 pm
And two news items down, American tap-water is burning because of fracking. Not to mention the tar sands poisioning some of the most beautiful parts of Canada. We do things so much better in North America, dont we?
Kenz300 on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 3:42 pm
Maybe this will be the point at which China embraces safe, clean alternative energy sources and moves away from building more coal fired power plants.
Pollution and Climate Change are two by products of using coal for energy production.
China has embraced wind and solar in their 5 year plans. They need to increase their commitment and speed up their transition to wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal energy.
China’s commitment to clean energy sources will have a huge impact on the Climate.
Kenz300 on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 3:42 pm
Maybe this will be the point at which China embraces safe, clean alternative energy sources and moves away from building more coal fired power plants.
Pollution and Climate Change are two by products of using coal for energy production.
China has embraced wind and solar in their 5 year plans. They need to increase their commitment and speed up their transition to wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal energy.
China’s commitment to clean energy sources will have a huge impact on the Climate.
Charlie Bucket on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 5:56 pm
Can’t wait for that cloud of shit to get to the West Coast.
Rick on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 7:18 pm
Nothing new here. China is in the same boat as the rest of us.
GregT on Mon, 14th Jan 2013 7:59 pm
The West’s commitment to lower emissions has already had a huge impact on the climate. The last thing that we need is an even greater impact from China. We are headed in exactly the opposite direction that we should be. We need to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels now, or pay the dire consequences.
If the models are correct, by 2025-2030, climate change should be doing a great job of decimating the world’s food production capacity. Unfortunately, so far the models have been wrong. Climate change is happening much faster than predicted.
A super electrical grid will at least allow people to keep the lights on at night. That will be of little comfort though, when they go to bed hungry.
ken nohe on Tue, 15th Jan 2013 1:40 am
Blizzard over Tokyo yesterday. 1,000 km South of where it’s supposed to be. Global Warming in action?
Yes Beijing is where London was 100 years ago, Pittsburgh 60 and Tokyo 40. In all case it took 20/30 years to clean up the cities and mostly because heavy industry moved away. But where do you go from China? Vietnam? Laos? Unlikely. And globally it changes nothing.