Haze, sandstorm blamed for polluted days
By Cai Wenjun |
April 20, 2013, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MORE than half of the first quarter of this year in 74 major cities in China were found to be polluted with many of them beating the PM2.5 pollutant benchmark, according to an air quality report released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection yesterday.
From January to March, only 44.4 percent of the days in the 74 cities met the nation's air quality limit, while 55.6 percent of the days were polluted.
About 13 percent of those days was heavily polluted and 5.8 percent was found with severe pollution - the worst two levels in a six-tier scale in China.
Tangshan City ranked top for the worst-affected city.
Among the 10 cities with the poorest air quality, six, including Tangshan, were in Hebei Province, which neighbors Beijing. The capital, which hit the headlines for serious haze problems in January, ranked No. 17.
Haikou in the southern Hainan Province had the best air quality. Shanghai was No. 52.
The average density of PM2.5 of the 74 cities in the first quarter was 96 micrograms per cubic meter, and the highest daily record was 772 micrograms per cubic meter - 9.3 times the nation's limit of 75 micrograms per cubic meter.
Experts said the cities suffered from poor air quality because of the haze in January and February in northern China and sandstorm in March.
Shanghai also felt the heat from haze and sandstorm. It enjoyed only 59 pollution-free days, or 65.6 percent of days. The air quality in January was the worst and since then the city started to monitor air quality.
A total of 10 days in the first quarter in Shanghai were classified as heavily polluted, according to Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau.
The air quality of 47 major cities were measured by air quality index (AQI), a composite index of PM10, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, PM2.5, ozone and carbon monoxide level after the environmental ministry introduced a new air quality monitoring standard last year.
It added PM2.5, ozone and carbon monoxide into the evaluation system and set stricter limits on other pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and PM10.
All the 47 cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and those in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions and provincial capitals, were the first cities in China to adopt PM2.5 and ozone monitoring before the end of last year.
From January to March, only 44.4 percent of the days in the 74 cities met the nation's air quality limit, while 55.6 percent of the days were polluted.
About 13 percent of those days was heavily polluted and 5.8 percent was found with severe pollution - the worst two levels in a six-tier scale in China.
Tangshan City ranked top for the worst-affected city.
Among the 10 cities with the poorest air quality, six, including Tangshan, were in Hebei Province, which neighbors Beijing. The capital, which hit the headlines for serious haze problems in January, ranked No. 17.
Haikou in the southern Hainan Province had the best air quality. Shanghai was No. 52.
The average density of PM2.5 of the 74 cities in the first quarter was 96 micrograms per cubic meter, and the highest daily record was 772 micrograms per cubic meter - 9.3 times the nation's limit of 75 micrograms per cubic meter.
Experts said the cities suffered from poor air quality because of the haze in January and February in northern China and sandstorm in March.
Shanghai also felt the heat from haze and sandstorm. It enjoyed only 59 pollution-free days, or 65.6 percent of days. The air quality in January was the worst and since then the city started to monitor air quality.
A total of 10 days in the first quarter in Shanghai were classified as heavily polluted, according to Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau.
The air quality of 47 major cities were measured by air quality index (AQI), a composite index of PM10, sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, PM2.5, ozone and carbon monoxide level after the environmental ministry introduced a new air quality monitoring standard last year.
It added PM2.5, ozone and carbon monoxide into the evaluation system and set stricter limits on other pollutants like nitrogen dioxide and PM10.
All the 47 cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin and those in the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta regions and provincial capitals, were the first cities in China to adopt PM2.5 and ozone monitoring before the end of last year.
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