[其他] Smog blankets northern China after environmental targets curbed [推广有奖]

Thick smog blanketed northern China this week, a reversal of the blue skies seen last winter as authorities dialled down environmental targets to boost flagging economic growth.

Levels of particulate matter of 2.5 microns (PM2.5), a standard for measuring air pollution, peaked above 300 on Wednesday according to data compiled by the US embassy in Beijing, a level considered “hazardous” by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

The level of pollution is 12 times the World Health Organization guidelines for outdoor air quality and the worst the city has seen in nearly 18 months.

Air in Hebei province, an industrial region surrounding China’s capital, was worse as local governments rolled back curbs of polluting industrial activity. Air pollution in Shijiazhuang, Hebei’s capital, climbed above 350 even as the air in Beijing cleared on Thursday.

China’s National Meteorological Centre attributed the haze to the start of heating season on November 7 and a lack of wind to blow away pollutants. The country’s northern cities are historically reliant on coal-fired power, causing increased airborne pollution during the winter months.

The return of smoggy skies this week came after Chinese authorities decided not to renew cuts on steel production and coal use aimed at improving air quality, part of a host of measures spanning an infrastructure stimulus to tax cuts aimed at restoring confidence in the country’s slowing economy.

Rather than place hard caps on coal use and steel production, authorities this year have instead mandated that PM2.5 levels must fall 3 per cent rather than the previously proposed 5 per cent target.

China’s newly restructured Ministry of Ecology and Environment defended the less-stringent target, saying that last year’s big drop in air pollution had been aided by advantageous weather conditions that may not be repeated this year.

Levels of PM2.5 fell 33 per cent across the 28 cities affected in the last quarter of 2017 while Beijing levels fell even more significantly, by 54 per cent, according to Greenpeace.

However, the cuts came at a cost for small companies and state-owned enterprises, as authorities banned construction in neighbouring Hebei province and shut down workshops and factories around Beijing and Shanghai. Meanwhile, steel producers in four major production cities were ordered to slash steel production in half during the autumn and winter months while reducing the use of coking coal by nearly a third.

Pollution curbs also affected local residents after authorities confiscated makeshift coal heaters common in rural areas and in migrant worker shantytowns. Ensuing shortages in gas left hundreds of thousands of households in the cold.

But this year, slower economic growth has prompted local governments to reduce the pressure on heavy industries, easing gains made in lowering coal use and industrial activity. China’s carbon emissions rose at their fastest pace in more than seven years during the first quarter of this year, according to a Greenpeace analysis using data collected by Beijing.