2007 Jun 27 Blue Skies
As the sky looms gray and depressing over Beijing and even the shortest bike rides result in sore throats and suspicious coughs, rest assured that there’s a reason for it all: those peasants are at it again! The Beijing Environmental Protection Agency issued a statement last week that seasonal straw burning in rural areas was in part responsible for the visible recent increase in pollution in the capital. Burning excess straw, a low-cost alternative to tilling it into the soil, is done in preparation for a second planting. Although burning straw was prohibited in Beijing in 2000, the practice continues in neighboring provinces, and occurs annually at this time of year.
In tune with this noticeable recent increase in pollution, local media has expressed concern that Beijing will be unable to fulfill its 2007 target of 245 “Blue Sky Days,” part of the “Defending the Blue Sky” anti-pollution campaign started in 1998. “Blue Sky Days” are defined as those with a pollution index of less than 100. Only 11 out of the 25 days so far this June have qualified as “Blue Sky Days,” far below the 67% needed to hit the year’s target. Although the recent pollution is in part due to burning straw in the countryside, the nongmin can’t be blamed for an accordingly low proportion of Blue days in the past six months.
See for yourself at a government website that tracks the pollution index in 84 of China’s major cities. According to the site, Beijing’s most polluted day this month was Tuesday, June 19, with the pollution index surpassing 200. To give you a sense of what this means, 200-250 is listed as “moderate pollution,” the point at which healthy people begin to exhibit symptoms and all sick and elderly should stay indoors and limit activity. The majority of days in June qualified as slight pollution (100-200). Notably, their database indicates that the pollution in June 2005 and 2006 was much less severe, both in terms of average pollution index and extremes.
These numbers take on greater significance as we near the one-year mark before the Olympics. Beijing pledged in November 2005 to hold a “Green Olympics,” and meeting air quality goals is an important aspect of such a promise. Of course, what the city can’t accomplish year-round, it can always provide in the short-term with a number of stopgap measures. Temporary measures for next summer include inducing precipitation, limiting cars in the street and halting construction. We suspect, moreover, that Beijing will expand its influence into the countryside come next hay-burning season.
Links and Sources:
Image of Drum Tower with the hills to the west of Beijing in the background. (tbj photographer Simon Lim)
Why Do Farmers Burn? (image)
State Environmental Protection Administration: Air Quality Daily Report for 84 Major Cities In China
Xinhua: Beijing choked by smoke from burning stalks
You might also be interested in :
Rain Makers
The rain that finally broke Beijing's 110-day dry spell fell harder and longer than it would have, thanks to the local government adopting cloud-seeding and other artificial precipitation measures. Given the favorable conditions (the meteorological bureau was predicting light rain) the local government decided to launch a land and air offensive on Feb 12 to try increase the amount of rain that would fall over Beijing. According to a report placed on the meteorological bureau's website, one plane from the Chinese air force was called into offer air support to 7 ground teams who blasted 49 rockets into the low lying clouds and another 31 teams who were busy burning 875 sticks of Silver iodide atop various mountains around suburban and rural Beijing.Pic of the Week: 10:05 from my window
Image courtesy of coeurdelion
The above image was taken this morning from Landmark Towers on the North East corner of the Third Ring Road. In another sign of how grim things are, the Firefox plug-in that flashes weather updates on our desktop currently reads blowing dust.
Links and Sources:
The Beijinger Forum: Smog...fog...haze...what is it?
Beijing Landmark TowersGet Ready for Grit
Spring is right around the corner, and with that comes the annual spring sandstorm season. For newbies to Beijing, this means a few months of dust and dirt blowing through town like a vacuum cleaner on reverse, and when it gets bad, conditions can be downright apocalyptic.2008 is looking especially grim, according to the Beijing Meteorological Station, which is predicting as many as 11 days of dust storms this year due to a warm winter and less rainfall in the desert areas surrounding the capital.
Xinhua reports that recent years have seen an average of 9.7 days of dust storms, though last year saw only three blow through town. But because 2007 saw 11 percent less precipitation than the average levels of previous years, spring is indeed looking like gritty.
Better dust off those facemasks now.
Holy Smoke, Beijing!
Break out the masks, folks!
According to the State Environmental Protection Administration, the brown haze that descended on our fair city hit a whopping 421 on the Air Pollution Index today. To put that in perspective, on a good day it hovers between 50-150. On a bad day, we're looking at 200 or so.
In fact, today's smog is so bad that the American Environmental Protection Agency rates it as Condition Maroon - or Hazardous. They even go so far as to advise "AQI values over 300 trigger health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected." Doctors recommend not undertaking physical exercise outside, and limiting exposure to the pollution.
Not a day to be leaving the house, if you can avoid it. And if you do, make sure you mask up!
No New Slopes
With slopes mushrooming up around the city these past few years, skiing has become the bai ling winter sport of choice – a trend that heretofore had developers gleefully plotting plans and land for bigger, better and even newer resorts.But according to skirebel.com this will all soon grind to a halt: the National Reform and Development Committee and the Beijing Municipal Bureau of State and Land Resources have jointly decided to put a stop to further ski area development within municipal boundaries, which may complicate things for developers like Melco International, a Hong Kong listed company controlled by the son of Macau gambling magnate Stanley Ho that has plans to acquire the Lianhuashan ski resort in Beijing’s Shunyi District.
