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| Pollution cloud in China. PHOTO: NASA |
The increasing pollution in China is already easily observable from space.
A giant cloud of pollution affecting 12 provinces in China is visible on NASA satellites and has affected transportation for several days, as well as causing a huge increase in the sale of face masks.
This huge cloud has set off alarm bells since last week regarding pollution levels in Beijing, where levels have been well above those considered dangerous to human health for several days, up to double the limit of polluting particles that the World Health Organization has determined to be harmful to human health.
For this reason, all outdoor sports activities have been suspended in accordance with current regulations.
Although these rates have reached unusually high levels in some of the affected provinces in recent days, they are more common in China's capital, especially under conditions such as lack of wind and high humidity, which are aggravated by the increased use of coal to combat winter temperatures, and by increasing industrial activity and vehicle traffic.
The density of 2.5 micron diameter particles (PM 2.5), the most dangerous, exceeded the limit of 993 micrograms per cubic metre in certain areas, according to the environmental monitoring centre in the Chinese capital. PM 2.5 can penetrate into the pulmonary alveoli and migrate into the blood.
This situation has forced the Chinese authorities to implement an emergency plan to combat pollution, which includes: the suspension of operations of 58 highly polluting companies, the mandatory reduction of 30% of polluting emissions for another 41 companies and the suspension of 28 large works in Beijing.
Criticism of the country's unbridled pace of economic growth has been increasing in various spaces on social networks, blogs and others. These criticisms are beginning to be picked up by other traditional media such as the People's Daily, the official organ of the Chinese Communist Party, which days ago published a headline that stated: “Building a beautiful China starts with breathing in a healthy way.”
Other media outlets, such as China Daily, have described the debate on this issue as “healthy.” “In the midst of rapid urbanization, it is urgent for China to reflect on how to carry out this process without compromising the quality of urban life by an increasingly deteriorating environment,” the paper said.
China, the world's second largest economy and the world's largest automobile market, sees its environment threatened by its numerous polluting industries, its ever-expanding road traffic and its slowness in protecting ecosystems. 701t/t of its energy comes from burning coal, making China the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gases. Ecuador owes more than $3 billion to China in oil-related loans.
According to Greenpeace, high levels of air pollution caused some 8,500 premature deaths in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xian in 2012.
Sources: Terra News/NOAA/El Comercio.
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