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By Tony
China’s smog problem isn’t news. The skies over China- especially north China- are some of the worst in the world. Still, however, China has only issued a red alert due to air pollution once (well twice, but they came just over a week apart). That was in December of last year during the historical climate change summit in Paris, France.
As the saying goes, in order to address a problem you must first you admit you have a problem. And it seemed that Beijing was on its way to admitting such a problem. The red alert issued across northeast China closed schools and business, and restricted manufacturing and automobile use.
But, as is normally the case, when one step of progress is made there are a subsequent 2 steps backward.
The New Red Alert
One step backward has been the increase of the required levels to issue a red alert. Although many applauded the first ever air pollution red alert on December 8th some still questioned why it was issued when the AQI was a measly 250. An almost 『normal』 amount of pollution found in the Northeast.
Currently, the 『red alert』 signal will be given if the government predicts an AQI of above 200 for more than 3 days. With this alert there are contingencies in place that will disrupt workflow, stop construction work, restrict the use of automobiles, and shut down schools.
The new program that takes effect by the end of March will change the requirements significantly. In order to reach new 『red alert』 levels the AQI must either: reach 500 for one day, 300 for 2 days, or 200 for four days. The new standards however, will be applied to surrounding provinces that have smog problems as well. The restrictions under such a red alert like even/odd license plate days will largely remain the same.
When asked about the new red alert requirements, Ma Jun, a respected environmental researcher in Beijing cited officials』 worries of 「multiple [times of] red alerts in a year,」 that will 「bring about a high social and economic cost.」
Artificial Wind
Some of the clearest days, at least here in Beijing, are the windy days. Especially after a bad bout of pollution, people welcome high winds despite the already cold weather. Breezy days are the best as it blows all the smog and clouds to the northwest and reveals the clear blue skies that everyone loves and misses. Well, Beijing wants to create this effect by creating 『ventilation corridors.』
The plan is to create this effect by connecting parks, rivers, highways, and low building sections into channels that will hopefully whisk away the unwanted human contribution to climate change. According to the plan- which doesn’t have a timeframe as of yet- the project will create 5 large corridors 500 meters wide each and several smaller ones as well. These zones will also be subject to construction limitations to protect the corridors efficacy.
Although it might make residents of Beijing happier it does nothing to actually address the smog problem. Simply blowing the smog away doesn’t make it less deadly or non-existent.
At least one scholar, Edward Ng from the School of Architecture at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, has his doubts about the plan. He said that, 「Beijing has very low ground wind.」 The professor, who helped design ventilation corridors in Hong Kong, said this same plan would not be effective in dispersing smog in Beijing.
In the government’s defense though, it seems Beijing is taking a multi-pronged approach to combat the pollution problem. Not only are they far ahead of the US in reducing coal consumption but they have also pledged to cut down pollution 40% from 2013 levels no later than 2020. They have also initiated action that will closed a proposed 2,500 small polluting firms just this year alone.
Sources: NYTimes.com, TheGuadian.com, & BBC.com
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