onsdag 22. mars 2017

How Climate Change Covered China in Smog


A Greenland-sized cloud of toxic air pollution smothered the plains of eastern China, shrouding the skylines of China’s largest cities in a sickly gray-yellow fog. The U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported that levels of PM 2.5—a type of particulate air pollution that seeps into lung, vein, and heart tissue—surged above 850 micrograms per cubic meter; the UN says that 20 micrograms per cubic meter is the highest safe level. 
Schools, highways, and airports closed. More than 7,000 children were sent to Beijing Children’s Hospital on a single day. At least 50 of the country’s 74 major cities exceeded national air-quality standards. The episode remains the worst haze pollution ever recorded in the month of January. Read more