An offshoot of its hyper-rapid development, over the past century China has recorded unprecedented levels of pollution, the worst effects of which have been felt up until now in more rural regions. This week, as Beijing’s policy makers woke up to clouds of choking black smoke, even those in the eye of the storm weren’t safe from the ecological devastation wrought by Chinese modernity.
ith current levels of pollution spiralling far above what the World Health Organisation would consider hazardous, Beijing and 30 other cities in northern and eastern China lie stagnating beneath dense smog.
An unfortunate coalescence of particular winter weather conditions has led to record breaking levels of this deadly fog lingering around the metropolis, but the root of the phenomenon is entirely manmade. Although the average number of pollutant particles released is not thought to have dramatically risen in the last few weeks, a lack of wind has meant that there has been no way of dispersing the noxious waste released into the city air from motor vehicles, coal burning power stations, and industry.
whilst Chinese industrial development and car ownership have both dramatically increased in recent years, concomitant levels of regulation and enforcement to manage the accompanying staggering rise in emissions has been at best lax
Whist projects outside Beijing may actually be a bigger contributor to the smog than internally generated pollution, air currents carry some of the most chocking industrial outputs right to the heart of the capital. Experts estimate that even with zealous action, it could take years for the smog to totally clear.
The reality of the situation is that, whilst Chinese industrial development and car ownership have both dramatically increased in recent years, concomitant levels of regulation and enforcement to manage the accompanying staggering rise in emissions has been at best lax. A heavy reliance on coal fired power over more clean forms of energy has only added to the problem.
The China Daily also cites to a lack of ‘green areas’ in the city to filter the air as contributing to the severity of the current ecological crisis. Uncharacteristically for a Chinese news publication, the paper also released an outspoken editorial urging Beijing residents and government officials to lessen their reliance on motor vehicles.
