ARTICLE: Beijing’s air quality deteriorated within 24 hours after two weeks of what Chinese citizens refer to as “Parade Blue,” or blue skies.
Chinese capital’s notoriously polluted sky was a bright blue for 15 consecutive days leading up to a military parade last week that marked the 70th anniversary of Japan’s defeat in World War II.
However, come the next morning, the beautiful sky promptly returned to its previous smoggy nature, leaving many residents to wonder what happened.
Well, it turns out that the blue skies weren’t an act of God, but of one belonging to the government.
Reports released this week revealed that, beginning in August, officials were responsible for cleaning up Beijing’s air in advance of the parade by suspending or restricting the operations of 12,255 coal-burning boilers, factories and cement-mixing stations scattered among seven provinces.
Authorities also restricted the city’s 5 million registered cars to driving on every other day.
On the day of the parade, the city’s air quality index was at a healthy 17 out of 500. However, the controls had eased less than 24 hours afterward. The next day, the air quality index hit 160 in parts of the city, which is a level at which “everyone may begin to experience some adverse health effects,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency."
SUMMARY: This article speaks on how quickly the air both cleaned up and dirtied once more after halting cars and factories. The city's air index went to 17 out of 500 after the halting and this is interesting because usually the city hovers in the 300's, and often skyrockets past 500. It goes to show that a collective effort really does make a huge difference for our surroundings. Whether or not Beijing will employ a long-term halting tactic like this permanently in unclear (or rather, unlikely for the industrial giant).
LINK: http://www.ecorazzi.com/2015/09/09/after-military-parade-blue-skies-air-pollution-in-beijing-is-back/
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