Buildings in Beijing vanish in toxic haze as China chokes on record smog
- 8 years ago
BEIJING — While air pollution in parts of China is reaching record saturation, Chinese President Xi Jinping is enjoying Europe's relatively clean air on the occasion of the Paris COP21 climate change conference.
More than 150 world leaders are meeting on Monday in the hopes of making some collective progress on limiting carbon emissions.
According to the World Health Organization, a fine particle reading of anything up to 25 micrograms per cubic is safe. A reading of 100 is considered hazardous for sensitive groups, and 300 is hazardous for healthy people.
On Monday according to the U.S. Embassy's Air Quality Index, Beijing reported a fine particle reading of 568, an absolutely insane figure and the highest ever recorded in the city, Shanghaiist reported.
In March the government introduced four color-coded pollution hazard levels, Blue, Yellow, Orange and Red. On Monday, with more coal being burned for winter heating, the level was raised to Orange the first time this year.
In response, highways have been closed, industrial plants have had to slow or halt activity, heavy vehicles such as trucks have been banned from the roads, and residents have been advised to stay indoors.
It's not only Beijing. According to China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, only eight of China's 74 largest cities passed basic air quality standards in 2014, with 23 heavily affected by pollution, Shanghaiist reported.
The latest pollution panic comes after China announced it has achieved, six months ahead of schedule, its pollution reduction targets. You're right to be suspicious.
Undermining the credibility of this announcement is new data that suggests the country is in fact burning 17 percent more coal — and emitting a billion more tons of carbon dioxide a year — than disclosed by the government, a fact the New York Times reported in November.
China has now promised to halt the growth of its emissions of carbon dioxide by 2030, Reuters reported.
Since that is only 15 years away, China's leaders might want to start taking further action now.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus
More than 150 world leaders are meeting on Monday in the hopes of making some collective progress on limiting carbon emissions.
According to the World Health Organization, a fine particle reading of anything up to 25 micrograms per cubic is safe. A reading of 100 is considered hazardous for sensitive groups, and 300 is hazardous for healthy people.
On Monday according to the U.S. Embassy's Air Quality Index, Beijing reported a fine particle reading of 568, an absolutely insane figure and the highest ever recorded in the city, Shanghaiist reported.
In March the government introduced four color-coded pollution hazard levels, Blue, Yellow, Orange and Red. On Monday, with more coal being burned for winter heating, the level was raised to Orange the first time this year.
In response, highways have been closed, industrial plants have had to slow or halt activity, heavy vehicles such as trucks have been banned from the roads, and residents have been advised to stay indoors.
It's not only Beijing. According to China's Ministry of Environmental Protection, only eight of China's 74 largest cities passed basic air quality standards in 2014, with 23 heavily affected by pollution, Shanghaiist reported.
The latest pollution panic comes after China announced it has achieved, six months ahead of schedule, its pollution reduction targets. You're right to be suspicious.
Undermining the credibility of this announcement is new data that suggests the country is in fact burning 17 percent more coal — and emitting a billion more tons of carbon dioxide a year — than disclosed by the government, a fact the New York Times reported in November.
China has now promised to halt the growth of its emissions of carbon dioxide by 2030, Reuters reported.
Since that is only 15 years away, China's leaders might want to start taking further action now.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Welcome to TomoNews, where we animate the most entertaining news on the internets. Come here for an animated look at viral headlines, US news, celebrity gossip, salacious scandals, dumb criminals and much more! Subscribe now for daily news animations that will knock your socks off.
Visit our official website for all the latest, uncensored videos: http://us.tomonews.net
Check out our Android app: http://bit.ly/1rddhCj
Check out our iOS app: http://bit.ly/1gO3z1f
Get top stories delivered to your inbox everyday: http://bit.ly/tomo-newsletter
Stay connected with us here:
Facebook http://www.facebook.com/TomoNewsUS
Twitter @tomonewsus http://www.twitter.com/TomoNewsUS
Google+ http://plus.google.com/+TomoNewsUS/
Instagram @tomonewsus http://instagram.com/tomonewsus