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The Blue and The Gray

Posted by SCapozzola on January 6th, 2009

Wanna see a cool website? Check out ‘Clearing the Air: A Room with a View,’ a resource of the Asia Society.

As many folks already know, Beijing’s skies are frequently polluted–a consequence of China’s rapid economic development which has led to significant increases in emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases. As ‘Clearing the Air’ notes, “In 2008, China surpassed the United States as the largest global emitter of greenhouse gases by volume.”

Upon entering the ‘Room with a View,’ visitors can see a running pictorial display of the Beijing skyline. On many days the smog is stunning. And even more worryingly, despite the relatively benign appearance of some blue sky days, Beijing’s pollution index provides a worrying indicator of the chemical content hidden behind each day’s sunshine.

‘Room with a View’ explains Beijing’s Air Pollution Index (API), which is published by China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection. The API is “derived from measurements of five pollutants: Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide, PM10, Carbon Monoxide and Ozone. The average concentration for each pollutant is calculated daily and the concentration of the pollutant with the highest API (0-500) will become that day’s major pollutant, recorded as that day’s API figure. In Beijing, PM10–particulate matter 10 microns or smaller–is the major pollutant most days.”

Thus the occasional, pleasant blue sky can mask worryingly high levels of chemical pollution.

Take a drive through the site, and check out the unbelievable smog and haze of Dec. 28, 2007– when the API maxed out at 500.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Holding China Accountable. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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The Blue and The Gray

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