2 air pollutants show modest improvement
Print Edition
CHINA saw a modest improvement in the levels of two common air pollutants in the first half of the year, environmental group Greenpeace East Asia said yesterday.
Average levels of PM2.5 — the tiny particles that can penetrate deep into the lungs and are particularly hazardous to human health — fell 16 percent in the first six months compared with a year ago, the group said, adding that sulphur dioxide levels also fell 18 percent.
“The fall in coal consumption is the principal reason for recent improvements in air quality,” said the group’s climate and environmental campaigner, Dong Liansai.
Beijing was ranked the region with the third-worst levels of PM2.5, behind neighboring Hebei Province and the central Henan Province, slipping from the fourth place in the first quarter.
Shanghai was ranked as having the 11th-worst levels, compared with its 14th place in the first quarter.
Greenpeace East Asia’s calculations were based on data provided by China’s environment ministry from monitoring stations in 189 cities across the country.
Last week, the ministry said that nearly 75 percent of China’s big cities had failed to meet air quality standards in June, an improvement over the same month last year. Beijing saw PM2.5 levels rise 11 percent last month.
Amid growing public disquiet about smog and other environmental risks, China has declared a war on pollution, vowing to abandon a decades-old growth-at-all-costs economic model that has spoilt much of its water, skies and soil.
China has sought to improve transparency and compel polluters to provide comprehensive and real-time emissions data, but doubts have arisen in the past about the accuracy of Chinese air pollution indexes.
In April, China’s vice minister for environmental protection announced a two-year inspection campaign to root out fake air quality data and accused some local governments of manipulating the information to meet national standards.
Greenpeace East Asia did not provide comparisons for other pollutants, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide and ozone, or for levels of particulate matter over 10 micrometers in diameter, known as PM10.
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