Beijing Takes Emergency Steps to Fight Smog

[alp227]

Source: NYT

The Beijing government put in place emergency measures on Wednesday to try to combat thick smog that has encased the city, which the Communist Party has hailed as a showcase capital, in brown and gray soot. The measures include temporarily shutting down more than 100 factories and ordering one-third of government vehicles off the streets, according to official news reports.

The effort came on the second straight day of air that was rated “hazardous” by the standards of the United States Environmental Protection Agency. That rating, in which the air quality index surpasses 300, means people should not venture outdoors at all. This month, Beijing has writhed in the grip of the most polluted air days on recent record. The surge in pollution, which is happening across northern China, has angered residents and led the state news media to report more openly on air quality problems.

Officials have also begun acknowledging the severity of the problem. Xinhua, the state news agency, reported that Wang Anshun, the newly appointed mayor of Beijing, said Monday that the government had come up with a preliminary plan to curb the pollution.

“I hope we can have blue skies, clean water, less traffic and a more balanced education system,” Mr. Wang said at a session of the municipal legislature.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/world/asia/beijing-takes-emergency-steps-to-fight-smog.html

[Stuart G]

1. It has begun..even where we never thought it would.

If, and only if...this one kills a lot of people, and those numbers get out...then, we will have progressed..Then, they will have to do something...who knows when that will be..?

[benld74]

2. We adoptedin 2002 and Beijing was out first stop,,,

the air was B_A_D then. I would HATE to see what it is like now!

[Stuart G]

3. Worst Smog event. ever,London December 1952, killed at least 4000, sickened 100,000, it changed life

Great Smog...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog


The Great Smog of '52 or Big Smoke was a severe air pollution event that affected London during December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants mostly from the use of coal to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from Friday 5 to Tuesday 9 December 1952, and then dispersed quickly after a change of weather.

Although it caused major disruption due to the effect on visibility, and even penetrated indoor areas, it was not thought to be a significant event at the time, with London having experienced many smog events in the past, so called "pea soupers". However, government medical reports in the following weeks estimated that up until 20th December 4,000 people had died prematurely and 100,000 more were made ill because of the smog's effects on the human respiratory tract. More recent research suggests that the total number of fatalities was considerably greater at about 12,000.
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

You know..it would take an event like the one above to really get everyone thinking about "pollution" and the "enviornment"..Here is what happened in Illinois a few years after this event. So I am living in a two flat apartment with my family...Dad and my uncle upsairs announce they got to change the furnace..All furnances in Chicago had to change to "oil" or "gas" burners by a certain date..all..Now Illinois used to be the largest soft coal producer in America...I was never told why...but sometime in the 80s, I read about the above event...and that is why...yes, every apartment had to be converted..cause of the above event..60 years ago...maybe a movie about it..to wake people up...but I am afraid only if a couple of thousand or more die...like in China....maybe then we will have another moment.....
Yes, I posted this before..needs to be posted again..even the Chinese would act, if 10,000 die cause of this.............

[Uncle Joe]

4. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, alp.

[Stuart G]

5. Oh.it was Friday, Jan 25,..last Friday, when we had one of these threads on somg in Salt Lake City.

here is the link:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014380496

[Gregorian]

6. By the way, eventually this is air we're all going to be breathing.

Combustion- the gift of death.

Also as an aside,... oh fuck it.

[iandhr]

7. My friend who lived in Beijing for a year said

breathing in the air was the equivalent of a two pack a day habit.

[Kingofalldems]

8. Kick this one

[Heywood J]

9. "In other news, all who are not Communist party officials

are now banned from living in Beijing. The purges will commence immediately."