Who has stolen our air quality?

Air quality index tables of various places "explode"

In air monitoring, the maximum value of Air Quality Index is set at 500. Netizens jokingly refer to the AQI table that exceeds such limit as having "exploded".

As of 8 p.m. on Jan. 13, 2011, the air quality was rated as "severely polluted" in five cities including Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Handan, Baoding, and Changchun. Of them, the AQI of Beijing was 498, and those of Shijiazhuang, Handan, and Baoding have all reached the maximum value of 500 for three consecutive days.

Who has "stolen" our health?

"We are all 'thieves' in this matter," Du Shaozhong, former spokesman of Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said, the "thief" here is not any particular pollution-discharging enterprise. Everyone is emitting carbon waste and suspended particles. Therefore, we should call on ourselves instead of others to carry out emission reduction.

He said that it is true the government should assume a greater proportion of responsibility, but the government and the enterprise alike are comprised of individual persons. We should not stress the role on others' part but neglect our own.

Regarding the question asked by Netizens: "Why is the air quality of Beijing in these two years worse than it was before?" Du replied, "It's like the hygiene in your own house. If there are more people spoiling it but fewer cleaning it, the situation will certainly get worse and worse! Of course, this is only analogy. The improvement of air quality in cities is much more complex than maintaining the hygiene in the house. "

Du said that he is willing to make the best effort to appeal to the public: we who breathe the same air should bear the same responsibilities. No one can be spared from living in the polluted air and everyone has a part in generating such pollution. "As for the recent few days, it is best to stay at home and not go anywhere. Do not go outdoors to 'aggregate' the air pollution anymore."

"Everyone is emitting suspended particles"

Regarding the hazy weather in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Wang Yuesi, researcher at the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences said there are three main reasons. The first is meteorological reason, mainly because the air does not circulate or flow, so that the pollutants easily accumulate, and water vapor concentration in the air is high.

The pollution is serious in Beijing because it has a disadvantage terrain, surrounded by mountains in three directions. He explained that in such condition, the pollutants are poured into the col with weak southerly winds, so that the airflow climbs up along the mountain, where the temperature drops with the height, causing condensation of the air into fog. Once particulate matters from the car exhaust emissions mixed with water vapor, they greatly reduce visibility.

The second reason is too much discharge from human activities. "People burn coal in winter for warmth. Automobile emissions are also serious and become worse when the traffic is jammed and the cars cannot move due to low visibility."

Further, because the air does not circulate, the pollutants will accumulate in the atmosphere, so that part of the gas pollutants is transformed into particulate matters.