Is Beijing's smog getting worse?

[FairAndUnbiased]

Nuclear energy is good, no pollution, clean... But you must take counter measures to face worst. Ex: Japanese Fukushima incident. If anything goes wrong it will curse your citizens for decades.

You get more radiation from a chest x-ray than you do from Fukushima water.

 

[punisher]

You get more radiation from a chest x-ray than you do from Fukushima water.

I don't agree with you. Superior Japanese technology saved their lives. Many countries feared about the radiation. If it releases less radiation than X-ray. Why the world fear about Fukushima. We can't stop natural disaster, like what happened in Japan.

 

[houshanghai]

Nuclear power is too dangerous and china lack uranium too，IMO,we should't build too many nuclear power stations.But our china have the world No.1 hydroenergy resources,so we should build more hydroelectric power stations. In addition,we should exert great efforts in developing solar power ,wind power and other new green environmental energy sources too.

 

[Tractor]

I don't agree with you. Superior Japanese technology saved their lives. Many countries feared about the radiation. If it releases less radiation than X-ray. Why the world fear about Fukushima. We can't stop natural disaster, like what happened in Japan.

Perhaps it's nukes with similar functional theory make people fear about nuclear power.

 

[punisher]

Nuclear power is too dangerous and china lack uranium too，IMO,we should't build too many nuclear power stations.But our china have the world No.1 hydroenergy resources,so we should build more hydroelectric power stations. In addition,we should exert great efforts in developing solar power ,wind power and other new green environmental energy sources too.

Your hydro energy can't meet future demand. and you can't rely on only Hydro-energy.

 

[punisher]

Perhaps it's nukes with similar functional theory make people fear about nuclear power.

Nukes releases high amount of Radiation Yeah Nuclear energy will release less amount. If accidentally Radiation will come out from Plant it will curse generations of your civilization. That's why Less countries preferring Nuclear energy.

 

[Huan]

Nuclear power is too dangerous and china lack uranium too，IMO,we should't build too many nuclear power stations.But our china have the world No.1 hydroenergy resources,so we should build more hydroelectric power stations. In addition,we should exert great efforts in developing solar power ,wind power and other new green environmental energy sources too.

You should read up on thorium-based molten salt nuclear reactors. ^^ They are very promising.

 

[katli]

Try to follow what new Delhi did. It was also quite bad but now much better, although not as good as west

 

[Asian.Century]

Beijing installs 'world's largest air purifier': 23-foot-tall 'pollution-fighting tower' is erected in Chinese capital as smog season starts

• An invention labelled 'Smog Free Tower' was installed at a park in central Beijing on September 29
• The machine was created by Daan Roosegaarde, a 37-year-old Dutch artist and innovator
• He saw the smog first-hand during a trip to Beijing in 2014 and got the idea for the clever air machine
• Roosegaarde has the support of China's Ministry of Environmental Protection to bring the project to China

For those in China looking for a cure to the country's smog problem, a solution may just be on the way.

A contraption named The Smog Free Tower which cleans the air around it has been installed in Beijing's 751D park on September 29 and will stay there permanently.

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The 23-foot-tall Smog Free Tower can clean 30,000 cubic metres (1,060,000 square feet) of fine smog per hour and uses no more electricity than a water boiler, according to Roosegaarde.

In Beijing: The 23-foot-tall smog free tower an clean 30,000 cubic metres (1,060,000 square feet) of fine smog per hour

Keeping safe from the polluted air: People wear masks as they walk in the heavy smog in Beijing (File photo)

Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde in front of the Smog Free Tower which has been installed in Beijing
On September 29, the Smog Free Tower was installed in Beijing's 751D park to coincide with Beijing Design Week.

The colossal device, named Smog Free Tower, is the largest air purifier in the world, claims Studio Roosegaarde.

It can collect pollutants, process them and then condenses it into cubes measuring around four centimetres (1.6 inches).

The designer from Rotterdam told MailOnline that he got the idea from a trip to Beijing in 2014.

'Two and a half years ago I was in Beijing on a Saturday looking out at the city from the 32nd floor.

'I could see the cars and other buildings but by the Tuesday or Wednesday, the view was completely covered with smog. It was so striking and so sad.'

Even the design of the tower itself has taken inspiration from China: 'The design is inspired by Chinese pagodas. It reflects history and also a link towards the future. Combining the old and new world.'

Horrifying scenes: Drivers go about their daily business after a yellow smog alerts (File photo)
The tower compresses the carbon particles which are then turned into diamond cubes

Roosegaarde has the support of China's Ministry of Environmental Protection to bring the project to China as the government fights its war against smog.

The Smog Free Tower prototype was tested this summer in a park in Rotterdam. Roosegaarde says that the smog collected in Beijing in the space of one day was equivalent to two-and-a-half weeks.

The smog collected during the test in Rotterdam was then transformed into rings and given out to those who had donated to the Kickstarter page, which Roosegaarde set up to help raise cash in order to bring his idea to reality.

He says within the coming weeks, the Beijing smog rings will be launched.

The reception in China towards the tower has been good. The designer says: 'Chinese people are really happy with it. They see a sign of hope.'

The tower will also tour four Chinese cities.

The artist says that the exact locations will be announced in the coming days: 'Hebei is China's most polluted province so we will definitely go there. Shenzhen is on the list as it has a makers mentality.'

Cleaning the air: Dutch artist and innovator Daan Roosegaarde holds smog particles collected by the smog free tower

Not a good day to be outside: Beijing frequently features near the top of the list of China's most polluted cities
Beijing has faced increasing issues with smog over the past few years.

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The capital city frequently features near the top of the list of China's most polluted cities.

At its worst, readings of the tiny poisonous PM2.5 particles reached into the high 600 micrograms per cubic meter through the capital, as compared with the World Health Organization safe level of 25.

When a red smog alert is issued, school are forced to close and cars are called off the roads.

Roosegaarde hopes that in 10 to 15 years there won't be a need for these towers.

He says: 'There is this quote that I like by Marshall McLuhan which says: "There are no passengers on spaceship earth. We are all crew." We need to engage people with a solution.'

Air pollution has become a daily battle and for many Chinese people it is normality.

The designer thinks that people should not accept smog: 'Luxury items used to be Louis Vuitton bags but now clean air is the new luxury.'

On October 2, Beijing was put on yellow smog alert which imposes restrictions on building and cooking outdoors. Those with respiratory problems were told to cut down on outdoor activities.

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Winter is commonly known as the country's smog season with the most pollution warnings released at this time.

An innovative machine: The Smog Free Tower has been set up in Beijing's 751D park

Stunning jewellery: The smog free ring is made from compressed smog particles collected by the machine

 

[dlclong]

Smogalarm in India
Dirt over Delhi
Millions of Indians have celebrated the Diwali Festival of Lights with great fireworks. Now smog is burdening over several large cities, the limits for fine dust are sometimes increased tenfold.
Monday, October 31, 2016 12:52 pm Print UsageFeedbackComment
The burning of fireworks to the Diwali Light Festival in India has considerably aggravated the already heavy air pollution in Indian big cities. The New Delhi's capital city, which has a population of around 17 million, has reached alarming levels, according to the Ministry of Geosciences, which is responsible for this project (see pictures from the affected cities).

In the district R.K. Puram was the first time to exceed the limit of 1000 micrograms of fine dust per cubic meter of air - ten times the limit set by World Health Organization WHO, the state weather service Safar said. The service warned of "serious risks" for health. Especially the sick, elderly and children should stay at home and avoid physical efforts.

The smogglock over Delhi even exacerbated visibility, described residents the situation in social networks. Cities such as Kanpur and Lucknow, as well as the economic metropolitan areas of Mumbai suffered from high levels of air pollution.

At the Hindu lights festival, which was celebrated on Sunday evening, large quantities of fireworks are burnt down in India. In addition, people incite lamps and candles to symbolize the victory of good over evil. The already bad air in Indian big cities deteriorates every year to Diwali again drastically. This year, among other things, a high air humidity contributed to an increased fine dust load.

Supposedly 40 per cent less bouncers

New Delhi's health minister, Satyendra Jain, said that the pop-up has already become less than usual. Compared to 2015 40 per cent fewer bobs were ignited. In social networks, however, users were criticized for not doing enough against the bad air.

Experts had warned that more smog could be expected because of the wind and humidity. New Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world - often the air is even more polluted there than in the Chinese capital, Beijing, which is often smog-torn.

In many Asian countries, smog has been a major problem for years, including China, India and Indonesia. Recently, it was known that, due to a week-long smog crisis in South-East Asia alone, more than 100,000 people died. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), around 6.5 million people are currently dying of polluted air per year.

 

[AndrewJin]

Smogalarm in India
Dirt over Delhi
Millions of Indians have celebrated the Diwali Festival of Lights with great fireworks. Now smog is burdening over several large cities, the limits for fine dust are sometimes increased tenfold.
Monday, October 31, 2016 12:52 pm Print UsageFeedbackComment
The burning of fireworks to the Diwali Light Festival in India has considerably aggravated the already heavy air pollution in Indian big cities. The New Delhi's capital city, which has a population of around 17 million, has reached alarming levels, according to the Ministry of Geosciences, which is responsible for this project (see pictures from the affected cities).

In the district R.K. Puram was the first time to exceed the limit of 1000 micrograms of fine dust per cubic meter of air - ten times the limit set by World Health Organization WHO, the state weather service Safar said. The service warned of "serious risks" for health. Especially the sick, elderly and children should stay at home and avoid physical efforts.

The smogglock over Delhi even exacerbated visibility, described residents the situation in social networks. Cities such as Kanpur and Lucknow, as well as the economic metropolitan areas of Mumbai suffered from high levels of air pollution.

At the Hindu lights festival, which was celebrated on Sunday evening, large quantities of fireworks are burnt down in India. In addition, people incite lamps and candles to symbolize the victory of good over evil. The already bad air in Indian big cities deteriorates every year to Diwali again drastically. This year, among other things, a high air humidity contributed to an increased fine dust load.

Supposedly 40 per cent less bouncers

New Delhi's health minister, Satyendra Jain, said that the pop-up has already become less than usual. Compared to 2015 40 per cent fewer bobs were ignited. In social networks, however, users were criticized for not doing enough against the bad air.

Experts had warned that more smog could be expected because of the wind and humidity. New Delhi is one of the most polluted cities in the world - often the air is even more polluted there than in the Chinese capital, Beijing, which is often smog-torn.

In many Asian countries, smog has been a major problem for years, including China, India and Indonesia. Recently, it was known that, due to a week-long smog crisis in South-East Asia alone, more than 100,000 people died. According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), around 6.5 million people are currently dying of polluted air per year.

Some places do suffer from pollution in China.
But it is due to the ongoing industrialisation and urbanisation.
It is unavoidable and should be dealt with patience and tolerance though it is painful.

However, the case in india is quite different, that is severe pollution (average PM2.5 of India's major cities is way higher than China's) BEFORE massive industrialisation and urbanisation. Their situation is not in proportion to their relatively low level of development.

We can see in the foreseeable future, with maturation of China's progress, development of public transport, urbanisation and automation, China's environment will be back to normality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...the_world_by_particulate_matter_concentration

All Chinese cities in the top 20 are located in one province which produces more steel than any country in the world. However, life expectancy of the province is 74.97 year old, higher than nearly all developing countries. (though lower than China's national average).

 

[SBUS-CXK]

Some places do suffer from pollution in China.
But it is due to the ongoing industrialisation and urbanisation.
It is unavoidable and should be dealt with patience and tolerance though it is painful.

However, the case in india is quite different, that is severe pollution (average PM2.5 of India's major cities is way higher than China's) BEFORE massive industrialisation and urbanisation. Their situation is not in proportion to their relatively low level of development.

We can see in the foreseeable future, with maturation of China's progress, development of public transport, urbanisation and automation, China's environment will be back to normality.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_...the_world_by_particulate_matter_concentration

View attachment 349110

All Chinese cities in the top 20 are located in one province which produces more steel than any country in the world. However, life expectancy of the province is 74.97 year old, higher than nearly all developing countries. (though lower than China's national average).

We will still try to disappear from this ranking.
But I don't understand. China's pollution is due to industrialization. India's pollution is because of what?

 

[AshishDelhi]

We will still try to disappear from this ranking.
But I don't understand. China's pollution is due to industrialization. India's pollution is because of what?

There are many factors -
1. Population density is high. More vehicles etc.
2. Lots of construction. Residential, office, commercial, metro, bridges etc being constructed.
3. Burning of waste etc.

Good thing is that we are slowly moving to cleaner fuel and focusing on curbing pollution but it is being done at a slow pace.

India might already be having industries which cause more pollution like ship breaking, mining, ores, alloys. What it lacks is more sophisticated industries.

 

[Dungeness]

We will still try to disappear from this ranking.
But I don't understand. China's pollution is due to industrialization. India's pollution is because of what?

Because the cow dung is the fuel for 50% of Indian families. This is the top pollutant in India.

 

[AndrewJin]

There are many factors -
1. Population density is high. More vehicles etc.
2. Lots of construction. Residential, office, commercial, metro, bridges etc being constructed.
3. Burning of waste etc.

Good thing is that we are slowly moving to cleaner fuel and focusing on curbing pollution but it is being done at a slow pace.

India might already be having industries which cause more pollution like ship breaking, mining, ores, alloys. What it lacks is more sophisticated industries.

I understand your points.
But it happens even in larger scale in China, especially your first two points.
More vehicles can be found in China.
(There is a difference in 2-wheels though, most Chinese choose electric scooters)
Way more construction sites can be found in China.
For example, in my city, 10+ metros, hundreds of residential buildings, 10+ 300m+ commercial buildings, countless elevated roads are being built at the same time, in a bid to cater for one million new migrants in the next 5 years adding to previous 10 million people.

Probably on point 3, the difference is obvious. Chinese families mostly use pipeline gas.
However, there is supposed to be more pollutants from China's heavy industry compared to India.

See the factories around the railway station in my city.
What this steel company produces equals one third of the total production in India.

Because the cow dung is the fuel for 50% of Indian families. This is the top pollutant in India.

In the city or in the countryside?