What Life Is Like in Beijing During China's Worst Pollution Crisis Ever
By Alissa Walker, Gizmodo, 7 December 2015.
By Alissa Walker, Gizmodo, 7 December 2015.
The “airpocalypse” of smog swirling over Chinese cities has reached its most dangerous levels yet. Beijing issued its first-ever red alert today, closing schools and taking cars off the road. How bad is it? According to EPA guidelines levels are at 6: “Everyone should avoid all outdoor exertion.”
While the short-term effects of being exposed to smog like this are scary - irregular heartbeat, asthma, respiratory problems - even lower levels can have devastating long term effects. In China, about 4,000 people die from premature deaths due to pollution every day. That’s 1.6 million people a year.
At the COP21 summit this week in Paris, China’s leaders have made some pretty significant pledges to close its coal-fired power plants, a huge contributor to the poor air quality. Let’s hope those pledges stay intact.
Top image: Satellite image of haze shrouding Eastern China, acquired on November 30, 2015. Credit: Jesse Allen/NASA Earth Observatory.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please adhere to proper blog etiquette when posting your comments. This blog owner will exercise his absolution discretion in allowing or rejecting any comments that are deemed seditious, defamatory, libelous, racist, vulgar, insulting, and other remarks that exhibit similar characteristics. If you insist on using anonymous comments, please write your name or other IDs at the end of your message.