Quantcast
ZME Science
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact
No Result
View All Result
ZME Science

No Result
View All Result
ZME Science
No Result
View All Result
Home Environment

Only 8 Big Cities in China Meet Air Quality Requirements

Mihai Andrei by Mihai Andrei
February 3, 2015
in Environment, News
Reading Time: 2 mins read
A A
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterSubmit to Reddit

A whopping 66 out of the country’s 74 major cities don’t meet the basic air quality requirements, China’s Ministry of Environment said in a report they released. Beijing, the country’s capital, is actually the 8th most polluted city of the country.

The 10 Chinese with the worst air quality.

China has a long standing history with pollution, and despite some laudable measures being taken recently, the situation won’t improve in the near future. China’s economy, massively powered by coal, has led the country towards an environmental disaster. China has more lenient standards than the rest of the world, but even so, cities aren’t meeting their own standards. What’s interesting is that the number of cities fulfilling the basic air quality requirements actually grew from 3, to 8 – so things are getting better, but extremely slowly.

The worst cities were in the industrial province of Hebei, near the capital Beijing, where the average reading of PM2.5 (tiny particles which can reach the lungs and cause diseases) was 93 micrograms per cubic meter – the country’s standard is 35, while the World Health Organization recommends a level of 25. Beijing itself was the 8th most polluted city.

ADVERTISEMENT
The top Chinese cities in terms of air quailty.

 

Sorry to interrupt, but you should really...

...Join the ZME newsletter for amazing science news, features, and exclusive scoops. More than 40,000 subscribers can't be wrong.

   

Haikou in the island province of Hainan — sometimes called China’s Bali — had the best air quality, closely followed by the Tibetan capital Lhasa coming third,

All in all the situation is pretty dire – and while the Chinese government has committed to lowering the amount of emissions, it’s expected that it will take several decades before the pollution levels reach “normal” levels. Even if all pollution stopped today (something which of course, isn’t going to happen), the effects would still take a while. But what I do find encouraging is that China is taking (small) steps towards transparency. The fact that they are releasing reports admitting that they don’t respect their own standards is, in itself, an achievement. Now, it remains to be seen if the Chinese behemoth industry can reduce its emissions and ensure a healthier future for the citizens.

ADVERTISEMENT

ShareTweetShare
Mihai Andrei

Mihai Andrei

Andrei's background is in geophysics, and he's been fascinated by it ever since he was a child. Feeling that there is a gap between scientists and the general audience, he started ZME Science -- and the results are what you see today.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Future
  • Space
  • Features
  • More
    • About
    • The Team
    • Advertise
    • Contribute
    • Our stance on climate change
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact

© 2007-2019 ZME Science - Not exactly rocket science. All Rights Reserved.