Beijing Pollution

[trevelyan]

http://www.zhb.gov.cn/english/air-list.php3?offset=0

Beijing is at 500 today. If their grading system was linear and didn't stop counting at (300ppm), this would make the city Grade 7. When do either (1) we all evacuate, (2) the government bans private automobiles? I am strongly in favour of the latter.

[gato]

I was wondering what that thing in the sky was. Hmm. Banning private automobiles is a good idea except that the government wants to encourage a domestic automobile industry, which tends to dampen its enthusiasm for protecting the environment.

[roddy]

Government wants to think about supporting a domestic breathing industry, methinks.

Is it actually that bad out there today? I haven't been out yet, but I can see clouds which is usually a good sign.

[gato]

I can see clouds which is usually a good sign.

That's a dust cloud you're looking at. Hehe.

It's also incredibly windy out today, probably approaching 30-40 mph. I had to struggle in walking home, even though it was only a few hundred meters.

[roddy]

Yeah, I've been hearing the wind whistling around Chinese-forums 大厦. Guess I'll cancel my plans to go out then. There are some beef and tomato jiaozi in the freezer . . .

EDIT: Damnit, window was open in the spare room. Dusty . . .

[bhchao]

Today's report from a Chinese newspaper in North America:

http://www.worldjournal.com/wj-ch-news.php?nt_seq_id=1460027

據亞洲開發銀行（ADB）的資料，亞洲高速成長的大都會空氣汙染嚴重，是歐美大城市的三倍。其中北京是空氣最髒的城市，上海、香港、洛杉磯等也上榜。

以世界衛生組織（WHO）認定的安全標準來看，北京等都市的空汙嚴重程度是五至六倍。正在印尼日惹參加一項泛亞空氣汙染會議的專家說，儘管亞洲各國對空汙的關切日深，也已設立較嚴格的汽車排放標準，但要讓空汙程度降到安全標準以下還需多年的努力.....

From worldjournal.com

[bhchao]

Something just crossed my mind. Why not make Bo Xilai mayor of Beijing?

[roddy]

What did he do to deserve the demotion? Anyway, you'd be better off with Pan Yue if the environment is your worry. To paraphrase one environmentally-minded, if somewhat hopefull friend of mine - "I'd vote for him"

[Jack MacKelly]

Mean nitrogen dioxide (NO2) pollution map for 2006, measured by Envisat's Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Chartography (SCIAMACHY) instrument, which records the spectrum of sunlight shining through the atmosphere

http://www.esa.int/esaCP/SEMBZNBE8YE_index_1.html

.NO2, a mainly man-made gas, can cause lung damage and respiratory problems in the case of excess exposure. It also plays an important role in atmospheric chemistry, because it leads to the production of ozone in the lowest part of the atmosphere – the troposphere.

[flameproof]

wow, looks like north eastern China is the world biggest polluted area.

http://esamultimedia.esa.int/images/EarthObservation/no2scia_world2006_H.jpg

And BJ is certainly badly hit. Cars that haven't been washed in a week are all sort of darkish grey. I remember staying in my 20th floor hotel room and couldn't hardly see the street downstairs.

I just wonder, when will they wake up? For now corruption and blindness keeps of course things as they are. Seems it has to get much worse first.

BTW, I read somewhere recently, in China you need 24Kg of coal to keep a room warm, in Germany 9Kg. That tells a lot about energy efficiency.

[imron]

I think a lot of this comes down to cost of building materials, and trying to reduce those intial costs regardless of the effect it has for the long-term sustainability of the building. A couple of years ago I was talking to a german architect working in Beijing, who said that reducing the amount of insulation was a common method used to reduce costs. When this architect mentioned to the people he worked for that doing this would end up costing more after about 2-3 years due to increased heating costs, the reply he got was that the construction company wasn't concerned with that, because once the building was built and sold, those costs were paid by someone other than them.

The other thing I'll add, is that recently it seems that some apartments in Beijing are ridiculously over-heated, and in order to maintain a comfortable temperature, you have to open the windows! Which is not exactly the most energy efficient way to heat a room!

[flameproof]

When this architect mentioned to the people he worked for that doing this would end up costing more after about 2-3 years due to increased heating costs, the reply he got was that the construction company wasn't concerned with that, because once the building was built and sold, those costs were paid by someone other than them.

Absolutely correct thinking in China! When you tell the buyer it will cost more now, and less in the long run, they won't take it. Such long term thinking does not exist in China.

I think in China energy efficiency is seen as something for the poor. Now they have money and they can waste it as if there is no tomorrow.

[gato]

This is where the government can make a difference. Take your example of insulation materials. If the government requires better insulation, it can happen. We don't have to depend on individual consumers to make that far-sighted choice.

Apparently nitrogen dioxide comes from automobiles as well as power generation, so Beijing will have to work on its transportation problem, as well. That's probably an even more difficult problem to tackle.

[roddy]

I just wonder' date=' when will they wake up?

Absolutely correct thinking in China!

Such long term thinking does not exist in China

I think in China energy efficiency is seen as something for the poor[/quote']

Are you an actual person, or has someone wired a sweeping-generalization generator up to the Internet

If you're not able to take a higher-resolution view of what's going on - central government edicts that aren't enforced at lower levels, environmental agencies that are desperate to do their job but toothless, NGOs doing their best despite uncertain legal standing, local government cadres who are evaluated on purely economic - not environmental - criteria, then you're not going to be able to have any conception of what's going on. Articles on chinadialogue.net address a lot of these issues. Any sentence referring to China as a whole is likely meaningless - tragically, things aren't that simple.

[zarathustra]

On the recent news, one of Beijing's biggest polluters was planning to move outside of Beijing because of the Olympics. I think they plan to do a 30%+ move by next year and be out in a few. Maybe some other companies will follow.

[schen8168]

By now, everyone should have known what PM10 is and its related health effects. In California, there is PM2 ambient air standards as well (as you could imagine, PM2 has more severe health implications than PM10.)

For Beijing's PM10 ambient air index, I have compared it against Calif. PM10 standards. Amazingly I found that for Beijing's index of 100, the ambient PM10 value is 10 times of the Calif. standard. So, that is the difference we should be aware of.

[bhchao]

LA substantially reduced air pollution during the 1984 Olympics by regulating car traffic. Traffic on major two-way streets were converted to one-way traffic. Drivers who were able to turn both left or right onto a two way street, could only turn in one direction during the Olympics. Priorities were given to bus traffic and carpools on selected streets, with a mass marketing campaign notifying people in advance.

Freeways were closed during selected Olympic events, diversion and detour routes were introduced. Announcements in the media alerted the public in advance of closures and detour routes. Also, ramp metering was used on freeways.

And employers allowed employees to work at home.

[Outofin]

Wow, this is a long lasting thread. I even found the post I wrote 2 years ago.

according to my observation in the past 3 weeks, Beijing has a cycle of roughly 5 days. The cycle starts with a strong wind, which blows polluted air away. You could enjoy blue and transparent sky. The good day will stay on the 2nd day but turn bad since the 3rd day. On the end of the cycle, the sky is just like Roddy described, "one slab of grey". That's how it is.

Now I visited Beijing again. I think the situation is the same. Maybe a little better. The week following the "golden week" was all blue-sky, which surprised me a lot. Not sure if that was normal or an exception.

[gougou]

Haile Gebrselassie, the marathon world record holder, has pulled out of the marathon event in Beijing because of concerns about the air quality. I sure hope somebody up there takes these news to heart!

[flameproof]

Haile Gebrselassie, the marathon world record holder, has pulled out of the marathon event in Beijing because of concerns about the air quality. I sure hope somebody up there takes these news to heart!

He has some asthmatic conditions, he still will do the 10,000m race though.