City breathes easier as air pollution improves

By Lydia Chen  |   2008-6-3  |     ONLINE EDITION

WATER and air quality improved in Shanghai last year, but noise pollution was worse, the city's Environment Protection Administration said.

Water quality in the Huangpu River showed signs of improvement for the first time in five years, the administration said in an annual report before Thursday's World Environment Day, according to the Oriental Morning Post.

Shanghai had 328 days of fine air last year, four more than in 2006.

It was the fifth-straight year that the number of fine air quality days reached 85 percent for the year, the administration said.

Road noise on Shanghai streets hit an average of 71.9 dB during the day while it dropped to 65.9 dB at night, failing to meet last year's target, the report said.

However, the report didn't say what the target was.

Shanghai invested 36.62 billion yuan (US$5.28 billion) last year in environment protection, taking a 3.05 percent slice of the city's gross domestic product, the administration added.