Beijing issues real-time air quality data

Beijing (CNS) -- As of today, Beijing is publicizing real-time air data retrieved at 27 monitoring stations around the city on the official website of the Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center.

The data is renewed every hour, and keeps track of the densities of sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and inhalable particles (PM 10), more frequent than the daily average figure released in the past, said Zhao Yue, an official at the center.

The new approach, which borrows experience from Hong Kong and some foreign cities, adds an "air quality index" to the old version, which displays all indexes within the past 24 hours as a direct reference.

Besides its official website, the center will also turn to broadcast, television and Weibo.com platforms to provide timely updates to municipal residents about the latest air quality.

The plan to measure finer matter such as PM2.5 is scheduled to be implemented nationwide by 2016, while Beijing plans to measure PM2.5 ahead of the Spring Festival. PM2.5 is considered more hazardous to health as it can penetrate deeper into the lungs, experts say.