North’s air quality gets worse after improving
Print Edition
AIR quality in China’s smog-hit northern regions, which include Beijing, worsened last month despite improvements over the year, according to the Ministry of Environmental Protection.
It said concentrations of the small breathable particles known as PM2.5, a key smog indicator, fell 12.5 percent to an average of 42 micrograms per cubic meter from January to October. The World Health Organization recommends an annual average of 10 micrograms.
But in October alone, smog concentrations in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region were worse than in the same period last year, the ministry said.
Six of the worst performing cities over the first 10 months were in the industrial province of Hebei, which surrounds the capital. Xi’an, home to China’s Terracotta Army, also appeared in the top 10 smoggiest cities over the period.
Smog normally worsens in winter as China’s largely coal-fired urban heating systems are activated in northern regions, but the ministry has warned the situation could be more challenging this year as a result of unfavorable weather.
During several recent smog build-ups, the ministry sent inspection teams to establish whether emergency alert systems in Beijing and Hebei were being implemented correctly. It found local governments were not cracking down hard enough on firms that broke the rules.
Environment group Greenpeace said in a research report that Beijing’s efforts to cut coal burning had led to a 90.4 percent decline in arsenic concentration levels since 2013, meaning that the city now meets national standards.
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