Haze is all year round for this country

[Heroine]

‘Where’s the fire?’: Chinese city cloaked in choking smog after coal-burning heating systems turned on for winter

PUBLISHED : Monday, 26 October, 2015, 2:51pm
UPDATED : Monday, 26 October, 2015, 2:51pm

Zhen Liu
[email protected]

A woman puts her hand to her mouth during heavy smog in Changchun in Jilin province. Photos: Sina.com

Smog in a city in northern China was so bad on Sunday that some people thought there must have been a huge fire in the area, state media reported.

The air pollution in Changchun in Jilin province was, in fact, caused by the city turning on coal-burning central heating systems for the winter, China National Radio reported.

Photographs showed the city’s streets enveloped in a thick brown haze.

As winter comes to northern China and the temperature falls, coal used to power heating systems becomes a major polluter.

Forty-one of the 43 worst polluted days in Changchun two years ago were in the period when central heating systems were operating, the report said.

 

[nxeaszc]

booming business for makers of face masks

 

[Heroine]

Smog in northeast China at nearly 50 times World Health Organisation safe limits

Heavy pollution shrouds 21 cities in northeast as dangerous particles reach highest levels since mainland began releasing real-time data

PUBLISHED : Monday, 09 November, 2015, 11:43pm
UPDATED : Tuesday, 10 November, 2015, 1:40am

Agence France Presse and Keira Lu Huang

Residential buildings in Shenyang are shrouded in smog on Sunday.Photo: Reuters

A swathe of China was blanketed with dangerous acrid smog on Monday after levels of the most dangerous particulates reached the highest recorded this year at almost 50 times World Health Organisation recommended limits.

Levels of PM2.5, the tiny airborne particles considered most harmful to health, reached 1,157 micrograms per cubic metre in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, on Sunday, data from the city's environmental protection bureau showed.

In Changchun, the capital of neighbouring Jilin province, they reached more than 1,000 micrograms on Sunday, and fell only slightly - to 860 - on Monday. Nearby cities also reported very high levels.
READ MORE: Gone with the wind? Gustier future in China may ease smog in big cities says Tibetan Plateau study

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said 10 cities in the northeast had recorded heavy pollution on Friday. The number rose to 18 on Saturday and 21 on Sunday. By Monday morning, 20 cities were shrouded in heavy pollution. The ministry said traffic control measures had been in place since Friday.

Shenyang's readings were some of its worst since 2013, when the mainland started to monitor air quality and release real-time data. In 2013, the PM2.5 index of Shenyang only once reached more than 1,000. In the same year, Beijing's index reached 900. The WHO's safety limit is a 24-hour average of 25.

A child wearing a face mask stands amid the haze in Shenyang in northeastern China's Liaoning province. Photo: AP

The Shenyang city government said it was initiating a "level one red alert" emergency response, the highest level, telling schools to stop organising outdoor activities, and reminding residents to "take green transit", stay indoors and "take health precautions".

Chronic pollution problem has been linked to hundreds of thousands of premature deaths on the mainland, and has become a major source of popular discontent with the government.

PM2.5 particulates can play a role in heart disease, stroke and lung ailments such as emphysema and cancer.

Xinhua said anti-smog masks had sold out at several pharmacies and a doctor at Liaoning's geriatric hospital said it had received more patients than usual.

Liaoning said the extreme smog was caused by the coal-powered public heating system being switched on with the onset of winter, and by heavy pollution blown in from other provinces.

Xinhua blasted Shenyang's emergency response as "useless" in the face of "such severe haze and pollution".

A Shenyang resident told Xinhua: "When you go out you feel the air burn your eyes, your throat hurts, so you go buy a mask, but it's not really clear what we should specifically be doing."

"When you go out you feel the air burn your eyes, your throat hurts, so you go buy a mask, but it's not really clear what we should specifically be doing"
Shenyang resident

Xia Qing, former president of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, said the emergency response protocols were not legally binding so they had only limited effect.

"Unlike Beijing, Liaoning's legislature has yet to approve these trial measures," Xia said. "Administrative documents have their limitations."

Xia also said the fundamental problem causing the heavy smog in the region was coal-burning, rather than vehicle use.

"It's different from Beijing. Banning the vehicles there won't bring blue skies like the Apec blue in Beijing. As long as China continues to burn coal … the [air pollution] problem won't be thoroughly solved," Xia said.

Calls made to Shenyang's Environmental Protection Bureau went unanswered.

 

[harimau]

Only winter they need to use the heater!

Only City people used heating generated by coals!

Country side they used wood to burn! Smells good!

 

[SkinTrade]

I'm cashing in from it

 

[bushtucker]

why can't they use electric heater instead? oh wait... they are using coal powered electricity generators as well?

 

[Heroine]

Airpocalypse Now: PM2.5 Hits 1,400 in Shenyang

“Fairyland or doomsday?” Xinhua tweeted this past Sunday alongside photos of dense pollution in Shenyang, “heaviest smog this year shrouds NE city of Shenyang, PM2.5 hit over 1400.”

“When I went outside, I felt my eyes burning and discomfort in my throat,” said a Shenyang resident. By late afternoon, the city had upgraded the situation to orange (emergency) level.

When an emergency level warning is issued, construction sites are supposed to halt work, but many continued despite the heavy, dangerous smog.

Because of this, Shenyang’s Bureau of Environmental Protection’s website was paralyzed for nearly two hours due to traffic.

A spokesperson for the bureau said that construction workers were not actually given a notice to stop working. If this is true, then the so-called emergency warning was only for show.

There was also no warning message about the haze on the websites of the Municipal Government of Shenyang, the Shenyang Bureau of Environmental Protection, the Shenyang Bureau of Education and other departments.


王石川/人民日报评论微信公号

2015-11-09 20:54

【编者按】

辽宁沈阳市于11月1日起正式开始供暖，11月8日，沈阳遭遇六级严重雾霾污染，全市pm2.5均值一度达到1155（微克/立方米），局地雾霾指数一度突破1400。一级预警发布数小时后，建筑工地仍顶着停工禁令继续施工、环保局官网瘫痪近2小时、环保局工作人员对启动一级响应竟不知情……

人民日报评论微信公号11月9日发布文章《PM2.5破千，应急响应要听真响》指出，从二级应急响应，升级为一级应急响应，反应不可谓不迅速，但是，如果迟迟落实不了，应急就变成了应慢，既体现不了效果，更体现不了效率。
以下为全文：

东北地区已进入今冬供暖季。辽宁沈阳市于11月1日起正式开始供暖，11月8日，沈阳遭遇六级严重雾霾污染，全市pm2.5均值一度达到1155（微克/立方米），局地雾霾指数一度突破1400。有市民称：“出门感觉空气辣眼睛、嗓子难受”。当日上午10时30分，沈阳市重污染天气应急指挥部启动重污染天气二级（橙色）应急响应，下午3时30分，因雾霾污染进一步加重，应急响应升级为一级。

“明者因时而变，智者随事而制”，根据污染状况出台应对方案，既是落实《大气污染防治行动计划》的需要，更是保障民众身体健康的需要。可遗憾的是，一级预警发布数小时后，建筑工地仍顶着停工禁令继续施工、环保局官网瘫痪近2小时、环保局工作人员对启动一级响应竟不知情……这种现象，令人深思。

建筑工地是根本没听到禁令还是视禁令为无物？据工人称，他们并没有接到停工的通知。如果此说属实，则说明所谓的应急响应只是说说而已，根本没有走出机关大院，更遑论发挥效果。众所周知，应对严重雾霾，应急方案一般涉及环保、教育、公安等多个职能部门。环保部门在其中扮演着不可或缺的重要角色，它既是主要的决策者，也是最直接的执法部门和执行机构，如果连环保部门的工作人员对应急响应都不知情，或者未能第一时间掌握变动情况，又如何真正落实应急方案？

此外，在沈阳市政府、沈阳市环保局、沈阳市教育局等单位的官方网站上，记者也没有看到关于此次雾霾的预警信息。这就说明需要叫醒的，不只是环保部门的网站；需要督促的，不只是环保部门的相关工作人员。

应对雾霾，兵贵神速。从二级应急响应，升级为一级应急响应，反应不可谓不迅速，但是，如果迟迟落实不了，应急就变成了应慢，既体现不了效果，更体现不了效率。雾霾锁城，市民无奈，任凭雾霾肆虐，市民便多了一分风险，少了一分安全；也会多了一份抱怨，少了一分理解。由此可见，需要升级的不是应急级别，更应该是责任意识；需要打通的不只是应急联动，还应该是执行中的“肠梗阻”。面对雾霾的造访，如果多一些责任意识，就不会无所事事；如果多对接民众的殷切目光，就不会行事慵懒。

诗人说：“云朵之上，天空奢侈地蓝。”驱散雾霾，迎接蓝天，当然不可能毕其功于一役，但是，如果陷入“非不能也，实不为也”的懒政逻辑，如果缺少“只争朝夕”的紧迫意识，如果既不愿意在“最先一公里”、“最后一公里”上迈开步，也不愿意力破“中梗阻”，所谓的蓝天梦就只能是遥远的梦想。应对雾霾，民间在行动，有人拿出了小贴士，有人奉献出了全攻略，也有人戴上了防毒面具。民间人士没有坐以待毙，职能部门更需行动起来。

时节已过立冬，供暖正在加码，一边是供暖，一边是雾霾，两者是否有关联？我们固然不能刚吃饱饭就骂厨子，但治理雾霾却是迫在眉睫。习近平总书记指出，应对雾霾污染、改善空气质量的首要任务是控制PM2.5，要从压减燃煤、严格控车、调整产业、强化管理、联防联控、依法治理等方面采取重大举措。多想出好点子，多让好点子落地生根，治霾也许就非难事。

 

[syed putra]

I suppose, we can try saying sinkie is just like home when they go on vacation during summer and we get smothered in haze.