Air pollution stifles China, but might clear the way for clean air reforms

Shanghai nearly vanished in a thick layer of fog on Thursday and Friday.

Photo by ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images

Authorities in Shanghai today grounded flights, halted construction and urged school children to stay indoors, as thick clouds of yellow smog descended on the city of more than 14 million.

The local government was forced to issue its most severe health warnings with air pollution rates ranging between 23 and 31 times the international standard.
China has struggled with the effects of air pollution, especially in the winter months, as more people rely on burning coal for heat. In October, the northern city of Harbin was covered by black smog that limited visibility to mere feet.

The country’s industrialization efforts are a major factor in the increasing pollution. Xu Bin, associate professor at Shanghai’s Tongji University, told Reuters that pollution from factories and auto emissions are a chief concern, while Greenpeace reports that in neighboring Jiangsu and Zhejiang, factory emissions are at all-time highs.

The Chinese government has engaged in some movement to address its pollution problem, partly as an effort to quiet growing discontent from the country’s upper-class. Isabel Hilton, who writes for the environmental news site China Dialogues, told Public Radio International that public sentiment has shifted dramatically in China.

“There was a time, maybe ten years ago, when people were almost proud of smog because it meant ‘we’re industrializing, we’re becoming a real country,” she said, “That moment has definitely passed, and these very serious episodes have brought terrific pressure on the government. If you are the only power, you also are the only people to blame, and they know that.”

In September, the government announced new targets to reduce coal consumption. Meanwhile, in some cities, local officials have limited the burning of leaves and encouraged people to pare back their use of vehicles, especially in the wake of these high-smog events.

“The new leaders are serious about reform,” R. Edward Grumbine, a senior international scientist at the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences told Forbes. “But, no one knows whether they can create new incentives that will influence local leaders to change.”

Still, the response from some U.S. officials has been positive, though reserved. At an event at the Center for American Progress, Environmental Protection Agency chairman Gina McCarthy said there is still more work to be done but that she is encouraged by China’s efforts.

“While I am all too well aware of the severe air quality challenges that China now faces, I see these challenges as ones where the United States can truly speak from experience in support of China’s efforts to reduce air pollution,” she said.

McCarthy will visit China next week to meet with government officials and discuss with them efforts to further combat pollution.