Hazardous pollution in Beijing

Apparently the smog in Beijing isn't just unsightly... it's bad for your health.  It's not great out here, but it seems quite commonplace.  I wonder how much lung cancer there is in Beijing....

My colleagues also tell me that this is nothing... there are many manufacturing towns that are far, far worse.

FT News, Education

Beijing smog hits worst level

Emerald Dong

207 words

22 November 2006

South China Morning Post

7

English

(c) 2006 South China Morning Post Publishers Limited, Hong Kong. All rights reserved.

Beijing's pollution index soared to hazardous levels yesterday as heavy fog continued to blanket northern China from Liaoning to Shandong .

The fog has cast a pall over the region since the weekend, leading to road closures and flight delays. But experts said that although pollution contributed to the grey outlook, there was no direct relationship between the density of the fog and pollution.

Pollution in the capital reached the worst level on the index yesterday, soaring to 415 for the 24 hours to noon, the China Environmental Monitoring Centre said. Readings of up to 100 are not considered a danger to health, while pollution levels above 300 are considered hazardous.

He Lifu , a meteorologist with the Central Meteorological Observatory, was quoted by the China News Service as saying the widespread, dense fog was mainly due to a drop in temperatures.

Zhao Jinghong , a weather forecaster from the Tianjin Meteorological Observatory, said fog was common in winter. "The fog aggravates the worsening air condition and the pollutants offer nuclei for fog to form around," Ms Zhao said. "But even back in the days when pollution was not so serious, the fog was still as thick as nowadays."