Beicology: Beijing's Air Pollution Forecasted to Continue Dropping
How bad is the smog these days, really? Who is keeping tabs on the state of our drinking water? What has the government done about carbon emissions lately? In Beicology we turn our focus toward environmental news in the capital.
Beijing's Air Pollution Forecasted to Continue Dropping
Impossible as it might have seemed at the height of Beijing's notorious 'airpocalypse' era just over half a decade ago, the Chinese capital seems to be turning the corner toward much clearer skies. State media recently reported that our city's average PM2.5 density is forecasted to dip below 50 micrograms per cubic meter in 2019. More promising still: Beijing is poised to reach the national standard for safe air, 35 micrograms per cubic meter, sometime between 2030 to 2035, an outcome that has long seemed elusive.
The prediction comes courtesy of He Kebin, a senior air pollution control expert at the Chinese Academy of Engineering and the dean of Tsinghua University's School of Environment. He attributes much of that successful smog busting to local government pollution control efforts, including better management of pollution-spewing coal-fired boilers, and a steady transition from bulk coal to cleaner fuels to heat Beijing's homes.
You can read more about He Kebin's sunnier Beijing pollution forecast here.
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region to Begin Joint Environment Law Enforcement
As if to build on the momentum of Beijing's aforementioned anti-smog gains, officials in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region are set to join forces on environmental law enforcement. Set to take place throughout this year and 2020, the joint initiative is targeted at "handling cases of cross-region environmental pollution and related violations," according to a recent state media report.
Specifically, officials are set to ramp up inspections on printing, furniture-making, medicine and pesticide, and producers of rubber-based producers, all of whom are cited as major polluters. Water resources in regional border areas are also set to be inspected more diligently as part of this campaign.
Green Tech's Role in Cleaning China's Cities
Electric cars are not only set to push technology and stylish designs but also hold the keys to a cleaner, greener future. At least that's the case for China, according to a compelling new article by the Sustainability Times. The piece points out how the Middle Kingdom has been the biggest market for electric vehicles and says that those battery powered cars "taking the place of gas-guzzling ones has helped keep appalling levels of air pollution in check."
From there, the story goes on to praise Chinese officials and entrepreneurs who are adopting forefront green tech like artificial intelligence-aided energy saving devices, renewable energy sources like solar and wind, and more. Yes, the author concedes that "China still isn’t winning" the war on pollution because smog here, for instance, still leads to more than a million premature deaths per year. However, the piece also quotes a Reuters interview with environmental expert Christine Loh, chief development strategist at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, who says the aforementioned green tech initiatives are "encouragingly speed-fighting pollution."
Read more of our ecological coverage here.
Photo: Reuters (via Today Online)
