Severe smog (even for China) in Beijing cleared up yesterday after two days of off-the-charts pollution. Typically, the primary sources of pollution in the capital are exhaust emissions and coal burning, but things were exacerbated by people setting off fireworks and firecrackers during Lantern Festival, which marks the end of the Lunar New Year holiday.
According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, PM2.5 levels in Beijing rose to 501 micrograms per cubic meter at 11pm during the Lantern Festival, causing the city to issue a blue heavy pollution warning. 33 cities across China, many in the north, recorded air quality indexes at heavily polluted levels.
World Health Organisation guidelines recommend day-long exposure to no more than 25 micrograms.
The air quality index (AQI) in the city's Tongzhou district reached a staggering 900, even with residents setting off fewer fireworks this year. Fireworks sales in Beijing during the festival declined 38 percent from 2013.
The micrograms-per-cubic-metre concentration of PM2.5 fell to 178 near Tiananmen Square in the centre of the capital at midday on Sunday after averaging 432 in the previous 24 hours, according data from Beijing’s air-monitoring centre.
"The recent pollution may be caused by fireworks," said Li Zhenlong, 30, who works in the energy industry in the capital. "We shouldn't completely forbid firecrackers; this depends on people's own free will, while the government should largely promote not doing it."
CCTV accused Beijing officials of turning a blind eye to the city’s worsening air quality after they did not initiate an emergency response as levels spiked. “The government can’t act like it is blind. It has to should its responsibility. Isn’t there anybody in charge of handling the smog?”
Pollution is the leading cause of social unrest on the mainland, according to Chen Jiping, a former member of the Communist Party's Central Politics and Law and Commission.
[Image via China Daily]
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