A breath of fresh air is hard to come by these days in Beijing and that fact was further realized this past weekend when Chinese officials were forced to shut down Beijing International airport because of a blinding smog that choked the areas airspace.
The world’s second busiest hub was forced to shut down after state-run media in China finally stopped called the smog “fog” and instead began talking about increased threats of smog based pollution.
Realizing the risks posed by the bad air residents around the country quickly began buying up all the masks and air filter machines they coulda get their hands on.
The smog, some of the worst witnessed to date by the world’s largest carbon emitter comes at a time when Chinese officials are attending the Durban summit to discuss ways they can reduce emissions throughout their country.
Thankfully for residents in the area a cold front began moving in on Tuesday, helping slow the spread of bad air.
Speaking about the pollution issue in the country the Global Times ( a publication owned by the Communist Party’s People’s Daily ) has begun telling citizens that they must “face the reality” of the countries pollution problem.
In an unsigned editorial the paper writes:
“Our pollution has become severe,” and “It is time for us to shift our focus from development to protection.”
The unsigned editorial adds that government protection for the environment is “hardly a functional system.”
In monitoring air pollution in Beijing the US embassy’s only pollution monitor was down to a “moderate” rating on Tuesday from a level of “very unhealthy” the day prior. On Sunday the air pollution monitor at the US Embassy was not able to measure air pollution because it was so far beyond the monitors technological ability to measure the air.
