Beijing Pollution

[cdn_in_bj]

Yup, I agree that the odd/even restrictions shouldn't have affected pollution that much. Sure, 3 million registered cars (in BJ) sounds like a lot, but compared to major cities in developed countries, it's about the norm.

Though it has helped with congestion, that's for sure.

I think shutting down the most polluting factories helped the most (not only the ones in Beijing, but in the surrounding provinces as well!). Obviously, this cannot be a long-term solution.

I agree in that they need to target the worst polluters, rather than just a blanket ban. And that includes the buses and trucks billowing black smoke.

Commuter lanes would be a good idea, but might be harder to implement here.

[Lao Che]

I'm not sure that it's had that much of an effect. Or if it has, that people are exaggerating it. Beijing's weather during the Olympics wasn't all that great. There were some clear days, but there were some pretty horrible ones too. Also, September is usually when Beijing sees its best weather. Although we've had great skies the last couple of days, I wouldn't put it as too out of the ordinary just yet, and remember similar periods in previous Septembers.

I thought this site was interesting:

http://www.asiasociety.org/beijingair/#room-with-a-view

From the pictures it provides, it appears the sky was clearer. AT the very least, the pollution index was much reduced (scroll back to earlier months to see the contrast- May, in particular, was nasty).

[imron]

You're not comparing like with like though. I find September/October is usually when you get the best weather in Beijing, and it's quite common to have clear blue skies (well, clear and blue for Beijing, anyway). It's not really fair to compare it to May, which typically has poor air quality. It will be interesting to see when this month is over, how it compares to September the previous year.

Actually according to that website, the pollution index for August 2008, is half what it was for August 2007, so I guess the air has improved. How much odd/even cars has to do with it is another matter altogether.

[Lao Che]

I checked the previous year before posting just in case, like you said, it was a matter of the time of year more than anything else.

I would agree that odd/even cars policy didn't improve air quality dramatically as they aren't the biggest polluters. Still, any excuse to clear up the roads a bit is a good one. Hopefully, Beijing won't follow in America's footsteps in respect to seas of roads and mass car ownership.

[bhchao]

Los Angeles cut its smog dramatically from 1970s even though it has more drivers on the road today. Mostly because of getting older, higher polluting cars off the road. Older cars must pass a smog check.

[heifeng]

actually not all 'older cars' need to be smogged, here are some Ca smog faqs:

http://www.dmv.ca.gov/vr/smogfaq.htm

Does my vehicle qualify for a smog exemption?

Smog inspections are required unless your vehicle is:

Hybrid

1975 year model or older

Diesel powered

Electric

Natural gas powered and has a Gross Vehicle Weight rating of 14,001 lbs. or more.

Motorcycle

Trailer

[lilongyue]

Last I heard, the technology used for car engines manufactured in China is 20 years behind the West. The quality of gasoline is also much poorer. If that's true, then 3 million Chinese cars probably pollute more than 3 million European cars. But I also don't think that the cars are the major source of Beijing's pollution problems.

So when will the factories be allowed to begin pumping carcinogens into the air again? I'd be curious to know about how quickly the smog returns, and what local Chinese have to say about it. What's going to happen when all those factories try to make up for profits lost during the Olympics? Even worse smog?

OK, just saw the answers to some of my questions.

Edited September 7, 2008 at 01:19 AM by lilongyue

[cdn_in_bj]

Last I heard, the technology used for car engines manufactured in China is 20 years behind the West. The quality of gasoline is also much poorer. If that's true, then 3 million Chinese cars probably pollute more than 3 million European cars. But I also don't think that the cars are the major source of Beijing's pollution problems.

Chinese emissions standards are a bit behind but not that bad. Currently, the equivalent of Euro III is being enforced nationwide for new cars as of July 2007, with Beijing already having made the move to Chinese/Euro IV earlier this year:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emission_standard#China

So we're back to "normal" traffic here in BJ and we've had beautiful, clear skies the past few days (though today there are clouds).

[bhchao]

Beijing is keeping some of the car rules imposed during the Olympics and Paralympics: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/01/AR2008100102874.html?hpid=moreheadlines

The government began taking 30 percent of its cars in the capital off the roads Wednesday in an attempt to make permanent some of the traffic restrictions imposed during the Olympic Games, officials and media reports said.

Beginning Oct. 11, Chinese motorists will also stop driving one workday a week, based on the final number on their license plates. The new rules should take 800,000 vehicles off the roads each day, according to reports quoting Wang Zhaorong of Beijing's Municipal Traffic Committee. There are 3.5 million cars in Beijing, and more than 1,000 vehicles are added each day, according to government statistics.

The attempt to manage traffic is one of the first concrete signs of possible lasting change as a result of the Olympics. The new restrictions come as the capital's traffic has once again surged and as smoggy skies have returned following the lifting of rules imposed from July 20 to Sept. 20 for the Olympics and the Paralympic Games.

[gougou]

Chinese emissions standards are a bit behind but not that bad.

There was a presentation at Yugong Yishan recently by a (foreign) adviser to the Chinese government, who said that Chinese were actually faster to adopt new norms, just had trouble enforcing them. I didn't factcheck that, but it wouldn't surprise me if it was this way.

[pandaxiongmao]

Los Angeles cut its smog dramatically from 1970s even though it has more drivers on the road today. Mostly because of getting older, higher polluting cars off the road. Older cars must pass a smog check.

Los Angeles in fact used to have a lot of factories that have moved or shut down since the late 1970s. GM used to have an auto factory that made Firebirds and Camaros there, for example.

Most of the factories that were in the LA area moved to Visalia (in Central Valley in California). If you look at lists of the US's most polluted cities, Visalia isn't far behind LA. All that pollution used to be in LA.

[adrianlondon]

I arrived in Shanghai yesterday, for my first visit here. I didn't realise it was possible for a city so close to the sea to be so polluted. It's just like it was when I was last in Beijing (which was before the Olympics). And, coupled with China's love of grey and metallic looking buildings, they almost vanish.

I reckon the only reason the TV tower has gates and turnstiles all around it is to stop tourists bumping into it.

[Shadowdh]

One of the things I dislike about the whole "China is sooo polluted" thing is the fact that ones home country's pollution is oft overlooked... for example when I was in Beijing with some of my fellow students much was made of the smells and pollution in the air, but upon returning to the UK (and London which is where I lived at the time) I noticed that the smells were indeed present (albeit in the side streets and not so much the tourist areas) and not only that but when I was driving into London the other day I noticed a huge brown cloud hanging over the city... probably a bit off topic by now but just a few lowly thoughts...

[adrianlondon]

I didn't notice any particular smell in Beijing, but then I'm from London. But London never gets so that you stand on a bridge over the Thames and can't see the buildings around you clearly. Check any figures; I bet Beijing is worse than London.

Anyway, I'm living in Stuttgart at the moment. So no London pollution for me ;)

[heifeng]

were we talking about neti on this thread or another thread? anyway, here you go, check this out: no more makeshift baby bottles needed:mrgreen:

[gato]

Prompted by the this James Fallow article to check Beijing's air quality reading. Wow!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2010/nov/19/crazy-bad-beijing-air-pollution

Friday 19 November 2010 16.21 GMT guardian.co.uk

Since the US embassy in Beijing began tweeting hourly pollution reports last year, I – along with many other smog watchers – have been horrified at the frequency of "bad" and "hazardous" readings.

But this week, the depth and murkiness of the haze was so appalling that the automated system briefly entered the realm of black comedy with a "crazy bad" analysis of our air.

The outlandish description appeared on the @beijingair Twitter account late yesterday when levels of PM2.5 tiny particulate matter surged past 500, about 20 times higher than the guideline issued by the World Health Organisation.

The "crazy bad" terminology – which was at odds with the normally sober and scientific language of the Twitter account – appeared to have been a joke embedded in the embassy's monitoring program and triggered by a reading that was off the normal scale.

US officials quickly deleted "crazy bad" and replaced it with the term "beyond index", but not before the original message was widely retweeted by shocked Beijingers.

http://twitter.com/#!/BeijingAir

BeijingAir

02-21-2011; 08:00; PM2.5; 515.0; 500; Beyond Index // Ozone; 0.1; 0; No Reading

21 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply

BeijingAir

02-21-2011; 07:00; PM2.5; 528.0; 500; Beyond Index // Ozone; 0.1; 0; No Reading

21 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply

BeijingAir

02-21-2011; 06:00; PM2.5; 563.0; 500; Beyond Index // Ozone; 0.1; 0; No Reading

21 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply

BeijingAir

02-21-2011; 05:00; PM2.5; 563.0; 500; Beyond Index // Ozone; 0.0; 0; No Reading

21 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply

BeijingAir

02-21-2011; 04:00; PM2.5; 595.0; 500; Beyond Index // Ozone; 0.0; 0; No Reading

21 Feb Favorite Retweet Reply

[zhuhao]

Well I've still been able to breathe, even riding my bike more than an hour per day.

I don't know what that says about me OR the air...

[aristotle1990]

Wow, Beijing looks pretty miserable right about now. If I were there I'd be walking around with an N95 mask on all day.

[Brian US]

I tried not to go outside after seeing the 400-500+ range, but I'm sure to wear a surgical mask. My friend bought one of these masks for running/biking:

http://www.amazon.com/Respro-Techno-Contour-Face-Mask/dp/B000OYJUUS

I think they are easy to find at bike stores around Beijing. When he wears it, he looks like Aquaman with the sides moving like fish gills.

[sujisol]

Beijing is the capital of pollution in all of the Far East. It exports pollution to Japan, Taiwan, and the Phillipines.

.....Living in Taiwan, haze not only looks gray but has the sense of rotting associated with the odor of dead bodies. The feeling derived from sniffing on carrion, say your dead uncle's, might be a good symbol for people to object to the excesses of pollution due to over production.

.....Or should everyone go on 'The Long March' to western china to give the government a message: No More Pollution!