Thick blanket of pollution covering Beijing prompts concern, ridicule

Beijing residents wearing masks seek to protect themselves from heavy air pollution enveloping Chinese capital Feb. 28, 2013 / CBS

BEIJING China's capital, routinely suffering from air pollution caused by automobile exhaust and coal burning, had another bad day today.

By 6 a.m. local time, air pollution was already "Beyond Index," according to @BeijingAir, a Twitter feed updated hourly with air quality information, maintained by the U.S. Embassy in Beijing and closely watched by local residents.

Even the official air data maintained by the local Beijing government, which usually underestimates the pollution compared with the Embassy's feed, put the condition at Level Six, the highest, or "severely polluted."

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The smog, visible to human eyes, is mainly caused by particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers, or PM 2.5, a term known not only to scientists anymore, but also to increasingly health-conscious Beijing residents.

Many Chinese natives used to think the smog covering the city was just natural fog -- before intensive media coverage of the city's air quality made them have second thoughts.

The Chinese Academy of Science published a report on severe smog weeks ago that put the total amount of pollutants suspending over the city of Beijing at over 4,000 tons at its worst point.

27 Photos

Hazardous smog blights Beijing

Adding to the usual pollution particles, dust from the western part of the country arrived later in the morning - sandstorms, to be exact. At 11 a.m., the local environment monitoring agency reported that fine sand from Inner Mongolia as well as the Republic of Mongolia had blanketed the city.

A sandstorm in spring is actually quite common for the capital, but on the heels of a terribly polluted morning, it just seemed like too much for most residents.

The increase of PM 10, a pollutant larger in size from the sand dust, was recorded by the Beijing Municipal Environment Monitoring Center, which advised residents to avoid outdoor activities.

The sandstorm came with gale force winds, according to the Beijing Meteorological Bureau.

Chinese social media was flooded with tweets and photos about the chaos.

Zhao Liang, who works in a office overlooking the iconic CCTV News Site, posted a photo with the building invisible but outlined with yellow lines.

Another user on Weibo, the Chinese equivalent of Twitter, posted a split photo comparing a blue sky day (in this case, Feb. 22, only six days ago) and this morning in Beijing.

A micro-blogger with almost 270,000 followers, Gudabaihua, poked fun with a little creativity, changing the lyrics of "Empire State of Mind" to reflect Beijing's air pollution, saying, "#Empire Stats of PM#In Beijing~~smoking jungle where fumes are made of~There's nothing you can do~~Now you're in Beijing~~The clouds will make you cough and puke~Thick air will destroy you~~let's breathe it in Beijing~~Beijing~~Beijing~~"

[LunaAzule]

There were days like that in LA in the 70s/80s. I've heard its gotten better, so it's possible to stop polluting, but the gov. has to make the right laws. I don't see that ever happening in China.

[Jeffrey_Smith]

Lets focus on a solution!

Our company has one viable answer to pollution with our flagship product, the SMART Emissions Reducer:

http://SmartEmissionsReducer.com

New technology and grass roots innovation can make a huge impact on preserving the environment.

[mjlewis6]

While water control on the Yantze has always been the determinant factor in the continued survival of the king or government, the 'river of the sky' is also a determinant factor for the Communist Party to survive the anger of its own people.

There will be no TEA PARTY or REPUBLICAN CORPORATE PARTY in the US as time goes by....likewise, the COMMUNIST CORPORATE PARTY will diminish towards a democratic centralism, which is how they present themselves now...

LOOK for changes behind the scenes...first is the abandonment of North Korea in the face of its emerging nuclear threat. Next is addressing pollutions in air and water....then the rise of true elections. IF THE MILITARY can keep from invading Taiwan and sparking a war.

[Beaner96]

"There will be no TEA PARTY or REPUBLICAN CORPORATE PARTY in the US as time goes by"

I've always hoped the Democrats would just go away. It's their liberal agenda and socialist policies that will eventually destroy this country!

[magnumdr]

Let's send more of our jobs there and maybe we will get them back when everyone there is dead.

[green_planet]

And why are you blaming them?

[otm861]

I guess it's easier to become an economic powerhouse when you don't give a rats ass about the environment.

[green_planet]

Yes that is true...just look at what the Western countries have done to this planet for the last 200 years...Great Britain and US leading the way.

[spacengin]

So why isn't the communist government of China doing anything about it? Oh, they have the same attitude as the US Republicans and TEA party. The people who vote Republican are in primarily rural areas where the air is clean. They do not understand that their choice really hurts everyone. They do not realize that they generally do better financially with non-Republican administrations.

[GOP-R--Con-Men]

Thick blanket of pollution covering Beijing prompts concern, ridicule
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This is America's future due to greedy neanderthal republicans and their supporters. They play money over everything, you'll need to use it for backpacks of oxegen tanks.

[w_roos]

The republicans would have you believe that this is what a city with lots of jobs and economic opportunity looks like.

[mamasrudeboy]

...my fellow rePUGSlicans, birthers and tea bags...we must continue to drill drill drill for more oil and dig dig dig for more coal...forget about Obama and his CLEAN ENERGY SOLUTIONS...this earth will cleanse itself (AFTER WE ALL DIE)...hmmmmmmmmm... where is sarah "the quitter" palin when we need her.....hmmmmm

[Duffx]

Oh, but if I remember correctly, the President uses China as a growth model.

[signseeker1717]

Nonsense - the President supports sustainable and clean energy solutions. It's Republicans and libertarians who see no use for the EPA.