Over the last couple of days Beijing has been struck by one of the most dreadful spells of pollution of the last few years. PM 2.5 levels have soared to 600, and the entire city has been covered by a thick, grey blanket of smog of the kind which smells bad and makes it dark and gloomy even in the middle of the day. This morning however strong winds finally arrived and blew it all away, allowing us to see the sky again.
Here's a couple of photos taken by a friend of mine from inside Beijing's famous CCTV tower. The first one shows the view out of his window this morning, and the second one shows the same view yesterday. Scary stuff.
People were beginning to hope things were looking up for Beijing' air quality, after a comparatively smog-free 2015, but the last few days have brought everyone back down to earth. At least this time most of the people out on the streets wore face masks. It seems like awareness of the ill health-effects of smog is increasing.
Here's a couple of photos taken by a friend of mine from inside Beijing's famous CCTV tower. The first one shows the view out of his window this morning, and the second one shows the same view yesterday. Scary stuff.
People were beginning to hope things were looking up for Beijing' air quality, after a comparatively smog-free 2015, but the last few days have brought everyone back down to earth. At least this time most of the people out on the streets wore face masks. It seems like awareness of the ill health-effects of smog is increasing.
2 comments:
When I visited Chengdu last year it got really bad - visibility around ~1 mile even at noon. I got that dry-throat, short-of-breath feeling I used to laugh at newbies for getting back when I lived in China. Beijing seems to have been way, way worse even than that - can you feel it affecting your health?
@Foarp: the answer is no, I can't feel it affecting my health. I don't get a sore throat, I don't feel out of breath, I don't get a cough. I'm fine. But that doesn't mean it isn't bad for you in the long run, which is what some people here still don't seem to get. It's not the short-term effects which should worry you the most.
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