Come to Beijing and you will realize that you have arrived into a different planet!
The massive capital of People’s Republic of China and the world’s third most populous city – “Beijing” is amongst the worst affected cities due to air pollution.
The city will witness an expenditure of US $ 2.6 billion in 2017 with an aim to curb air pollution and improve the air quality.Air pollution in China is one of the major aspect amongst the larger environmental issues. The expenditures standard set by Beijing for bring the air pollution in control is double of WHO’s acceptable standard. This depicts the seriousness and urgency of the environmental hazard for which Beijing is willing to overspend.One of the major cause of air pollution in China is coal buing in factories and power plants coupled with vehicular pollution.
For the last few years, close to 21 million strong population of Beijing has been inhaling air filled with toxic substances majority which is causing serious health hazards to individuals in the long run. There have been frequent sightings of schools and workplaces shutting down due to rise in air pollution levels in the city. Majority of the days, kids as well as adults roam around in the city wearing masks to prevent themselves for exhalation of toxic air. School kids falling sick often, teenagers suffering from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases are the results of long term effects of this hazardous pollution.
This is a serious situation in Beijing which has become a center of discussion amongst Beijing environmental authorities at local as well as global levelThe combustion of coal in factories in the city usually generates a particulate matter popularly known as PM. Currently, Beijing air pollution level is at PM 2.5, which is a particulate matter with 2.5 micrometers diameter in size and this is highest hazard levels reached in the last few years. Because of the tiny nature of this particulate matter, there is always a high possibility of ingestion of this substance into the human respiratory system while inhaling air.
The city has already been declared “Inhabitant” by the global environmental bodies. It is imperative to note that in a matter of just 8-9 years, this particular health hazard substance – particulate matter have risen from 100 to 800 micro-grams per cubic meters which is alarming!
With a collective aim to curb air pollution, Beijing has already undertaken multiple initiatives in the last few years to reduce usage of coal in factories by approximately 2 million tonnes. There has been a significant shift in the lifestyle of residents in villages with the usage of clean energy rather than coal. Also, the local authorities have taken bold steps to bring the pollution under control such as declaration of discontinuing old or outdated vehicles.
Moving forward in 2017, Beijing will be taking harsh steps to bring this menace onto its feet.Interestingly, there have been an introduction of incentive driven programs for Beijing residents for usage of clean energy and eco-friendly solutions with an aim to encourage people to take collective initiate for making the environment cleaner.Hopefully, with these efforts, we can surely expect to see Beijing becoming a healthier city uncaging itself from the long proclaimed identity of being an “Uninhabitable city”.Source: independent