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SCIENCESaturday 14 November 2015

China’s gray smog has a blue lining: Air improves this year

LOUISE WATT in terms of the air quality,” healthy. But some experts, ellites backed up the im- able weather conditions
Associated Press said Wu, 26. “At least so far, officials and observers see provement in official read- compared with last year,
BEIJING (AP) — Lawyer Wu this summer and this fall, it’s the improvement as the ings. including more winds from
Congsi has asthma and actually better than last start of a long-term up- “The fall from 2014 to 2015 the north.
keeps air purifiers whirring year — just more clear days ward trend in air quality re- was the biggest in that en- China’s pollution problems
tire time series — and by are notorious after three
An air intake devices collect air samples for monitoring pollution at the Beijing Municipal a pretty wide margin at decades of breakneck
that,” he said. “So it’s defi- growth in which there was
Environmental Protection Monitoring Center in Beijing. China’s polluted air is still largely nitely been a very excep- little official concern about
tional year for air quality.” the environmental impact.
hazardous to health, and officials won’t even guess when air will finally reach levels that could The early success gives The air gets especially bad
China a credibility boost in the winter when the
be considered healthy. But some experts, officials and observers see this year’s improvement as ahead of a climate change burning of coal increases
conference beginning late and weather patterns add
the start of a long-term upward trend in air quality resulting from central and local government this month in Paris, where to the smog.
countries are to hash out a A study led by atmospher-
measures to lower pollution. AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein) global agreement intend- ic chemist Jos Lelieveld of
ed to slow down global Germany’s Max Planck In-
away in his office, home than previously. I might go sulting from central and lo- warming. Many are hop- stitute and published this
and car to counter Bei- out hiking or maybe just cal government measures ing that China, the world’s year in Nature magazine
jing’s hazardous smog. He stroll around the parks.” to lower pollution. top emitter of carbon emis- estimated that 1.4 million
prefers to stay inside unless Chinese official sources “It’s not just Beijing or one sions, plays a leading role people are prematurely
the sky is blue. But this year, have cited the improve- region,” said Lauri Myllyvir- in the negotiations, par- dying because of pollution
he’s been able to regularly ment, and U.S. Embassy ta, who campaigns on air ticularly as an example to in China each year.
walk the 15 minutes or so to readings have corroborat- pollution for Greenpeace. other developing nations. Growing public anger over
work. ed the findings. “It’s really widespread re- Yi Bo, an engineer at Bei- air pollution has pushed
That’s because of some China’s polluted air is still ductions in (levels of par- jing Environmental Protec- the government to make
good news that so far has largely hazardous to health ticulate matter and pollut- tion Bureau’s air manage- combating it a priority.
gone little noticed outside — killing 1.4 million people ants) across all of eastern ment office, said the capi- In 2013, months after a par-
of China: The air in Bei- a year, according to one and central China.” tal had seen a drop in all ticularly bad winter that
jing — and across the rest recent study — and officials Myllyvirta said data on av- major pollutants in the first spurred many Chinese and
of the country — has im- won’t even guess when erage levels of aerosols, or three quarters of this year. expatriates to leave Beijing
proved so far this year. air will finally reach levels tiny particles, for the past That includes a 40 percent because of health con-
“I just feel generally better that could be considered 15 years from NASA sat- decrease in sulfur diox- cerns, the central govern-
ide and a 19 percent de- ment banned new coal-
crease in PM2.5 — small in- fired power plants in key
halable particles that can industrial regions around
penetrate deep into the Beijing, Shanghai and
lungs and are considered Guangzhou, ordered cit-
to be a good gauge of air ies to drop their pollutant
quality. levels by 2017 and looked
“People make an effort to increase non-fossil fuel
and the heavens help,” Yi energy such as wind and
said, evoking a Chinese solar power. Last year, it
idiom to describe what he changed its environment
said were the two reasons law to allow unlimited fines
for the improvement: gov- against persistent pollut-
ernment efforts to reduce ers and public oversight of
emissions and more favor- companies’ emissions.q