china's toxic air pollution resembles nuclear winter, say scientists _ environment _ theguardian.pdf

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8/31/2014 China's toxic air pol lution resembles nuclear winter , say scientists | Environment | theguardian.com

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/25/china-toxic-air-pollution-nuclear-winter-scientists

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China's worsening air pollut ion h as exacted a significant economic toll, grounding flights, closing h ighwa y s

an d deterring tourists. Photogr aph: STR/AFP/Getty Im ages

Chinese scientists have warned that the country's toxic air pollution is now so bad that it

resembles a nuclear winter, slowing photosynthesis in plants – and potentially wreaking

havoc on the country 's food supply.

Beijing and broad swaths of six northern provinces have spent the past week blanketed

in a dense pea-soup smog that is not expected to abate until Thursday. Beijing's

concentration of PM 2.5 particles – those small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs

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China's toxic air pollution resemblesnuclear winter, say scientists

Air pollution now impeding photosynthesis and potentially wreaking

havoc on country's food supply, experts warn

Jonath an Kaiman in Beijing

theguardian.com, Tuesday 25 February 201 4 1 6.00 GMT

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and enter the bloodstream – hit 505 micrograms per cubic metre on Tuesday night. The

World Health Organisation recommends a safe level of 25.

The worsening air pollution has already exacted a significant economic toll, grounding

flights, closing highways and keeping tourists at home. On Monday 11,200 people visited

Beijing's Forbidden City, about a quarter of the site's average daily draw.

He Dongxian, an associate professor at China Agricultural University's College of Water

Resources and Civil Engineering, said new research suggested that if the smog persists,

Chinese agriculture will suffer conditions "somewhat similar to a nuclear winter".

Buildings in the

central business district in Guangzhou seen through the thick haze. Photograph: Alex

Lee/Reuters

She has demonstrated that air pollutants adhere to greenhouse surfaces, cutting the

amount of light inside by about 50% and severely impeding photosynthesis, the process

by which plants convert light into life-sustaining chemical energy.

She tested the hypothesis by growing one group of chilli and tomato seeds under

artificial lab light, and another under a suburban Beijing greenhouse. In the lab, the

seeds sprouted in 20 days; in the greenhouse, they took more than two months. "They

will be lucky to live at all," He told the South China Morning Post newspaper.

She warned that if smoggy conditions persist, the country's agricultural production could

be seriously affected. "Now almost every farm is caught in a smog panic," she said.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/chinahttp://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1434700/china-smog-threatens-agriculture-nuclear-fallout-conditions-warnhttp://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1434700/china-smog-threatens-agriculture-nuclear-fallout-conditions-warnhttp://english.cau.edu.cn/col/col5477/index.htmlhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbidden_City


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A farmer turns soil to

plant crops near a state-owned lead smelter in Tianying that has made much of the land

uninhabitable. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters/Corbis

Early this month the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences claimed in a report thatBeijing's pollution made the city almost "uninhabitable for human beings".

The Chinese government has repeatedly promised to address the problem, but

enforcement remains patchy. In October, Beijing introduced a system of emergency

measures if pollution levels remained hazardous for three days in a row, including closing

schools, shutting some factories, and restricting the use of government cars.

People visiting the

Olympic Park amid the thick haze in Beijing. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

According to China's state newswire Xinhua, 147 industrial companies in Beijing have cut

or suspended production. Yet schools remained open and government cars remained on

the road.

One person not put off by the smog was President Xi Jinping, who braved the pollution

http://www.theguardian.com/world/xi-jinpinghttp://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2014-02/25/c_133141548.htmhttp://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1426587/pollution-makes-beijing-almost-uninhabitable-human-beings


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to make an unannounced visit to a trendy neighbourhood popular with tourists.

Dressed in a black jacket and trousers – and no facemask – Xi made a brief walkabout in

Nanluoguxiang district last Thursday morning. The visit prompted approving coverage

in Chinese news reports, but also mockery on social media sites. "Xi Jinping visits

Beijing's Nanluoguxiang amid the smog: breathing together, sharing the fate," said a

Xinhua headline.

Photos and shaky video footage apparently of Xi's visit ricocheted around Chinese social

media sites. "Why isn't he wearing a facemask?" asked one Sina Weibo user. "Isn't it bad

for his health?"

This week Chinese media reported that a man in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei

province near Beijing, had sued the local environmental protection bureau for failing to

rein in the smog. Li Guixin filed the lawsuit asking the municipal environment protection

bureau "perform its duty to control air pollution according to the law", the YanzhaoMetropolis Daily reported.

Li is also seeking compensation for the pollution. "Besides the threat to our health, we've

also suffered economic losses, and these losses should be borne by the government and

the environmental departments because the government is the recipient of corporate

taxes, it is a beneficiary," he told the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily.

Li's lawyer, Wu Yufen, confirmed the lawsuit but refused to comment because of the

sensitivity of the case. He said: "T his is the first ever case of a citizen suing thegovernment regarding the issue of air pollution. We're waiting for the judicial authority's

response."

Diseased vegetables

said to be caused by pollution from a chemical plant. Photograph: How Hwee

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sina_Weibo


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What's this?

What's this?

Young/EPA

Li told the newspaper that he had bought an air purifier, masks and a treadmill, but

none had helped him to overcome the pernicious health effects of the smog. He is seeking

RMB 10,000 (£1,000) in compensation. "I want show every citizen that we are real

victims of this polluted air, which hurts us both from a health perspective and

economically," he said.

Li Yan, a climate and energy expert at Greenpeace East Asia, said the case could bring

exposure to polluted cities outside of Beijing, putting pressure on provincial officials to

prioritise the problem. She said: "People … who live in Beijing are suffering from the

polluted air, but we have the attention of both domestic and international media.

Shijiazhuang's environmental problems are far more serious, and this case could bring

Shijiazhuang the attention it has deserved for a long time."

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china's toxic air pollution resembles nuclear winter, say scientists _ environment _ theguardian.pdf

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