This year, we’ve covered quite a bit on China’s pollution problem and the importance of tackling it as soon as possible.
Long story short (okay, maybe not so short):
China’s air pollution levels broke records this year and reached dangerous levels. So much so that the Chinese media has taken a stand on air pollution in China by calling on the government to take action against pollution, which according to the media, have reached dangerous levels in the capital city, which is home to around 20 million people.
According to the media, the air quality in Beijing reached 755 on an index measuring particulates of matter in the air. For an idea of how bad 755 is, know that the World Health Organization recommends a daily level no higher than 20 and a level of 300 is deemed to be dangerous. According to Zhou Rong, climate and energy campaigner at Green peace, 755 is the worst recorded air pollution in Beijing.
“How can we get out of this suffocating siege of pollution?” asks the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Communist Party, in a front-page editorial, according to Reuters. ”Let us clearly view managing environmental pollution with a sense of urgency.”
The media’s sense of urgency is apt, as the the Journal of Toxicology and Environmental Health found that a particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers can cause cardiopulmonary disease, lung cancer and acute respiratory infection.
Soon after these record breaking days, the capital of China was forced to cancel flights due to poor visibility and temporarily shut down factories due to the high levels of smog. The Associated Press wrote: The capital was a colorless scene. Street lamps and the outlines of buildings receded into a white haze as pedestrians donned face masks to guard against the caustic air. The flight cancellations stranded passengers during the first week of the country’s peak, six-week period for travel surrounding the Chinese New Year on Feb. 10.
The crisis has reached to the point where Chinese millionaire and philanthropist Chen Guangbiao is reportedly selling canned air in soda cans for 5 Chinese Yuan ($0.80) a pop in a variety of flavors, including ”pristine Tibet” and “post-industrial Taiwan.”
And if you think Chen hasn’t been making profit, think again! The Chinese-language Beijing Youth Daily, translated by The Huffington Post, reveals that Chen, who has been selling his canned air since September 2012, sold $800 worth of canned air in Beijing on the first day alone.
“Every day, we are inhaling the exhaust fumes of cars,” Chen told China’s Sina News last year, as news of his canned air idea began circulating in the media. “And now we have pollution-free air to sell – a benefit to everyone’s health and longevity.”
In light of all this, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang vowed to tackle China’s pollution problem by promising to “show even greater resolve and take more vigorous efforts to clean up such pollution,” according to Reuters.
“We need to face the situation and punish offenders with no mercy and enforce the law with an iron fist,” said Li. “We shouldn’t pursue economic growth at the expense of the environment. Such growth won’t satisfy the people.”
