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NASA Releases Orbital Photos of Beijing's Air Pollution
skade88 writes "This story should remind us all that air pollution controls are not just about addressing global warming. They also help us have cleaner air and fewer health problems resulting from smog and haze. Starting earlier this month, Beijing, China started having worse than normal air pollution issues. On January 14, 2013 the U.S. embassy's air pollution sensors in Beijing found the density of the most dangerous small air particles, PM 2.5, at 291 micrograms per cubic meter of air. The World Health Organization's guidelines for air pollution state that PM 2.5 above 25 micrograms per cubic meter of air is dangerous to a person's health. To put the problem into perspective, NASA has released two orbital photos of Beijing showing before-and-during images of the air pollution. The photo from January 4 shows parts of Beijing still visible from space. The photo from January 14 shows nothing but a huge, thick cloud of haze with no buildings visible."
that's what the job killing lines get you stuff like this when you cheap out and just dump stuff out with not paying the costs to clean it up.
What you meant to say is "Nothing to see here, move along."
In a rather Bender-esque way, the literal translation from Mandarin for its populi (the PM2.5 breathers) is "Meat vacuums", and not in a good way I might add.
H.
I remember from my youth that's what LA used to look like in the 70s. Those were back in the days we had to walk 5 miles to school each day in the dirty gray snow. Course once we realized it was not actually snow, but several inches of dusty sooty crud, we stopped wearing our parkas.
Go go gadget smokescreen!
Those Romans had a phrase for everything. This may be true, but I'm sure we're jumping to a conclusion.
"The greatest lesson in life is to know that even fools are right sometimes" - Winston Churchill
I'm sorry, which standards would those be?
Browsing at +1 - no ACs, I ignore their posts. So refreshing!
Don't worry !! All will be fine !! Just make my phones !!
Yours,
Big Fat Happy American Camper !!
Smog in some US cities was bad way back in the '70's but nowhere near what it's like in Beijing this month. When you call US environmental conditions "woeful" attached to an article about the pollution going on in China, it really lets your ignorance shine. The US environment isn't perfect, but yes, it is vastly superior.
So, no need to act on this too terribly quickly.
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
on days like these, you can see it, smell it and... taste it.
So you should tell us what bliss feels like.
The EPA has actually made huge strides in the U.S. To the point that big cities which used to have smog constantly and you could see the air are now clear.
There is always room to approve...but if you think we are anywhere near China...you aren't really paying attention.
Support a great indie game: http://www.abaddon360.com
Neither was Europe back in the Industrial Age. You're saying Europeans Slashdotters have no right to criticize the US's energy and environmental policy.
China has been dragging its feet on global warming reforms. China has been emphatically objecting to any cut in its produce of green house gases (and other pollutants).
Now that Beijing (and surrounding cities in China) are being blanketed by the thick polluted and toxic fog, the Chinese leadership may be forced to alter their strategy and move away from pollution-generating industries.
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
That is all.
That is the nicest .gov I have visited. Well done and thanks.
PM 2.5 stands for particulate matter smaller than 2.5 micrometers.
According to the Wikipedia particles of this size cause a broad array of terrible consequences in the body.
Perhaps Americans should consider improving their own woeful environmental standards before throwing stones at other countries, as good as it may make them feel.
Aaaannndddd there it is.
I propose a new 'law', similar to Godwin and others.
Any discussion pointing out a countries problems will include, within the first 20 comments, a reference to how the USA is worse with regard to that particular problem.
We could call it the 'Dumbfuck Law'.
NPR has an article about this as well, apparently it's affecting more than 30 cities in China
Exactly!
It's always amazing when folks of the GPs ilk decry the US and it's environmental stance/views/policies/etc... and yet never once raise a finger or voice about China.
At the end of the day it just demonstrates that most of the most vocal environmentalists who spend so much time attacking the US aren’t so much pro-environment... as they are anti-America... ala the GP.
I also like how representatives of other countries point to the issues the US had decades ago, in regards to manufacturing standards, health, labor laws, etc. Sure, there were growing pains, but should you not learn from them? The US was after all at the forefront of industrialization. Should you not vaccinate people, but instead wait until your own scientists learn about invisible bacterial, or about penicillin, or about carbon emissions?
That whole argument is very weak to me.
US environmental conditions are much better, especially since we decided to offshore our toxic manufacturing needs to China.
I'm from LA, too... I can't remember the last Smog Alert we had.... And when I was a kid, most of the summer was First Stage, with a few Second Stage alerts every year.
General Relativity: Space-time tells matter where to go; Matter tells space-time what shape to be.
The Feds are nazier than the nazis.
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
NASA, next time show orbital photos of their cheating wives.
US standards are PM2.5 of 15ppm annually and 35ppm over 24 hour average, and regions are considered "non-compliant" and have to take corrective action if they don't meet that. China hit 800ppm on 1/12/13. And you know who's fault that is? China's. Don't even pretend their government is somehow owned by US interests. It's getting closer to the other way around.
So, yes, the US is a HELL of a lot better environmentally. Please do the tiny bit of research it takes before saying stupid shit like that.
Here's a handy chart of Air Quality Index and a description of some of the more noxious substances:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/graphic/2013/jan/15/what-in-beijing-polluted-air
China has replaced their "One Child" program of population control with a new "One Lung" policy.If you can't get rid of the babies, at least you can weed out the weak, the old, and the heavy breathers.
nuf sed
Table-ized A.I.
The EPA has actually made huge strides in the U.S. To the point that big cities which used to have smog constantly and you could see the air are now clear.
So, naturally, Republicans want to end the EPA. Can't let the hippies win!
I live ze unknown. I love ze unknown. I am ze unknown.
Perhaps Americans should consider improving their own woeful environmental standards before throwing stones at other countries
The US did that in the 70s. We've moved on.
The US government should mind its own business.
Why? When was the last general election for the Chinese head of state? It's an out of control, illegitimate government actively harming its citizens. If the free world just lets it fester, then one day, that might harm the rest of us as well (for example, by providing support for a global tyranny). I consider it good international hygiene to publicize the flaws and weaknesses in such a governments and to pressure it to change.
Someone just turned off the "Disable fog of war" cheat.
I'm from LA, too... I can't remember the last Smog Alert we had.... And when I was a kid, most of the summer was First Stage, with a few Second Stage alerts every year.
Outsourcing works both ways I guess. China might get the jobs but they also get stuck with the pollution.
It's easy to see why US environmental conditions should be better. China is a more dense country. There are more people/polluters per square area than in the US. A more meaningful comparison would be between countries or political units with approximate population densities and levels of development, say the US vs. Europe or China vs. India.
Aside from the obvious correlation, there's smog in our Street View and Haze in our spysat, is there any way to tell if the "smokescreen" is natural or man-made? How can one tell a dust storm from smog, cloud formations, or the plumes of a gigantic volcanic eruption? I know from elementary science that clouds are pollution.
The EPA budget for FY 2013 is $8.6 billion dollars (not including other funding sources like enforcement fines). Many view it as too damn costly for the benefit seen, considering that it overlaps heavily with State functions. It's very reasonable to question this spending when you consider this country is in heavy debt and needs to figure out what can be trimmed from the budget.
I'm from LA, too... I can't remember the last Smog Alert we had.... And when I was a kid, most of the summer was First Stage, with a few Second Stage alerts every year.
Outsourcing works both ways I guess. China might get the jobs but they also get stuck with the pollution.
I'm fairly sure it wont be long before they trick us into buying it off them.
Lets just thank god they're burning all that coal rather than risking the remote chance of an accident in some super evil Nuclear power plant.
This is a Chinese attempt to obfuscate their landscape from American spy satellites.
The Chinese have embarked on a daring new plan to obscure themselves from US satellite photography. Operation Brown-Cloud, GO!
Read the news. The Sequester hits the EPA budget pretty hard.
http://www.nytimes.com/gwire/2011/04/13/13greenwire-epa-budget-deal-slams-state-regional-programs-26003.html
Of course when you read the article all of a sudden you start wondering whether this was the right priority.
Many view it as too damn costly for the benefit seen,
Mostly tea party types. Considering that 8.6 billion is less than the cost of a single week of all Medicare benefits that those mostly tea party types collect, I'd say the EPA is a bargain.
Why don't we cut out tea party types' Medicare benefits in excess of what they paid in? Now that would really save money.
considering that it overlaps heavily with State functions.
So we could have yet another race to the bottom in standards as various states try to "create jobs" by luring short-sighted business owners from other states with promises of lax regulations.
I didn't necessarily think it should be a high priority, just that it was reasonable to look at their budget and nothing should be off-limits for scrutiny. In reality, the EPA budget makes up less than 1/10 of a percent of the overall federal budget. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/total. Or about 1% of the total spending deficit. http://www.usgovernmentspending.com/breakdown. Really insignificant when you consider the total deficit is 17.5-trillion,
No politician is willing to commit political suicide by trying to tackle medicare and social security which are the major spending.
I wonder how much of that new-found clean air is actually due to the EPA's actions vs all of the formerly polluting industry moving to China. On the one hand good riddance, but on the other hand the loss of all that industry seems to be causing us other problems...
I'm from LA, too... I can't remember the last Smog Alert we had.... And when I was a kid, most of the summer was First Stage, with a few Second Stage alerts every year.
Outsourcing works both ways I guess. China might get the jobs but they also get stuck with the pollution.
I'm fairly sure it wont be long before they trick us into buying it off them.
You used to be able to buy LA smog by the can.
We send manufacturing over there because it's cheaper. A major reason why it's cheaper is the lack of regulations. No need for smoke filters, no worries about dumping waste in waters. Then we take pictures and post it on the internet. And we feel good about our yard and complain about theirs.
i forgot - TFA was penned by the US govt.
idiot.
You people in California are breathing some of that Beijing pollution.
Little Jimmy Hansen, Janet 'Planet' and The Other Political Administrators of DoI, and underlings EPA, and the not to forget our CyberSluts DHS are all masturbating, both male and female, themselves to a bloody climax right about now.
Lordy Lordy. What a Mess !
NO science here ! Just a lot of ejaculate and entrails on the floor and face of the Celebrities (We call them 'Talents' in Japan by the way) One And All.
XD
I traveled to China (Beijing, Wuhan, and Guangzhou) in 2001 and I remember when we landed in Beijing how smoggy it was there. Pretty much the entire country (the parts we saw) were all like this. Of course, this is much worse, but I thought it was kinda bad even back then.
Not true. They may get the jobs, but we also get the pollution. The planet is a living thing, and things that happen in China don't stay in China.
Much of the particulate pollution over Los Angeles originates in China, according to the Journal of Geophysical Research.
China dust storms travel to California
It's just China's way to stop google maps!
Didn't know that. Do now. Still, is it going to be that thick by the time it gets there?
X is worse than Y. Therefore, Y isn't bad.
Hypocrisy as an argument is great.
Filthy, filthy copyrapists!
Sounds like something that idiot Michael Moore would say. I propose we call it Moore's Law. Oh wait...
No politician is willing to commit political suicide by trying to tackle medicare and social security which are the major spending.
That's not true, Paul Ryan has made a big issue of it. Whatever you may think of the man, he's quite impressive in that way.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
* It's communist
* Rampant pollution
* The kleptocracy that festers when communism fuses with capitalism
* One-child policy plus a society that devalues women means women are shrinking as a percentage of the population; translation, China is a sausage fest.
But, it's a capitalist's eutopia!
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
It was a standard Soviet rhetoric tactic, and earned the nickname of "whataboutism".
So because it doesnt matter, the US might as well not bother trying at all, is what you're saying, hm?
European prejudice coming: You must be american. You confuse "superiour" and "not as bad as the worst".
How much of this is from the sand storms? I do remember reading how sand storms were a problem but I am not sure if they affect Beijing! I believe this is some pathetic attempt by the U.S to smear China, if indeed --part--of what your seeing is sand dust. You think this is bad here is what they are dealing with in Italy------ http://www.npr.org/2012/12/27/167964697/a-showdown-in-italy-over-a-polluting-steel-plant
Reading that comment made all of us dumber.
You can't protest against China, because China doesn't give a damn about you or anything you say. If you're going to lobby for policy changes, it helps to lobby something you have an actual chance of changing.
For LA it wasn't the industry but the cars and trucks coupled with a location designed for trapping stagnant air. Pollution controls on vehicles are the primarily reason that the smog has been eliminated.
Actualy, its calling out a hypocrisy.
Doesnt need a special name just because it is not favorable for US.
Ha, an american walking... priceless!
Funny I always thought that was a European thing. "Our X is better than the US so it must be beyond reproach."
I know this might sound absurd, but if we care about the environment and want to make a statement to the world, how about we offer some sort of assistance (not necessarily financial) to Beijing to put them on the right track? All of our complaining and pointing fingers and we don't even care about the lives at stake. They have a problem, we should help them make it better however we can. It's lives as stake here!
A 10 minute walk outside is all it takes for a thin film of talc-like dust to settle all over your clothes/hair/skin. For someone exposed to it for a long time, I would imagine it's akin to working in an autobody shop spray painting cars without a respirator.
The stench of sulfur from burning coal is prevalent since many large housing complexes (and even individual homes) use coal fired boilers to create steam heat in the winter. The government hacks that are profiting handsomely from this situation don't care. Their children and their cash are safely stowed overseas.
I don't see any sign of improvement over the past 7 years other than the temporary cleanup for the Olympics in 2008.
Progress and "prosperity" mean a lot more to China than people's health. I have a feeling an entire city could drop dead and they still wouldn't do anything about their environmental problems. In fact, they'd probably just say that's how the problem solved itself.
That already has a name: Tu Quoque, or the Appeal to Hypocrisy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tu_quoque
Or, as it was famously (and allegedly) phrased by the Soviet Union, "And you are lynching Negroes!"
China would care if we could get a backbone and actually stop buying all the cheap products which help produce this level of pollution. Plenty of other countries want to have strong industrial economies and we could work with the more reasonable governments to install EPA like restrictions from the get go. It wouldn't happen over night, but eventually China would be forced to clean up its act as they saw the numbers drop.
Momento Mori
FWIW, nearly every American state has its own EPA, and many of them were already in effect and making improvements before Nixon (yes, Republican Nixon) created the EPA. Most pollution tends to ignore state borders, though, so the existence of some federal agency is reasonable. But instead of acting as the arbiter between state EPAs, the EPA tends to override them and exerts an unconstitutional pressure directly on individual citizens.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
[citation needed]
Libertarian here who isn't collecting Medicare or any other entitlements, only ever collected a tiny fraction of the UC he paid into for decades, and actually sees the actions of the EPA against individual citizens as far more harmful that its cost.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
In logic, this is similar to the "ad hominem tu quoque"-- "you too"-- fallacy.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
If that pressure is unconstitutional, then we need to revise the constitution. I want "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" and EPA helps preserve two of the three. I think liberty should always be subject to restrictions when it effects the life of others.
Libertarian here who isn't collecting Medicare or any other entitlements
But almost certainly will when old enough, just as Ayn Rand did.
And based on actuarial statistics, will collect far more than was ever taxed.
I agree that's a problem, but that can be fixed by substantially raising the eligibility age to match current lifespans. Eliminating or privatizing Medicare is NOT the way to fix the problem.
and actually sees the actions of the EPA against individual citizens as far more harmful that its cost.
I see the actions of would-be polluters against individual citizens' lungs as far more costly than anything the EPA has ever done. After all, that was the point of this whole article about China.
I'm sorry. No matter what you may believe (and as a libertarian, your beliefs are probably highly resistant to actual reality, so I don't expect this to have any affect on you), you just simply don't have a right to ruin the environment for everyone else.
I stayed in Beijing for eight days in September 2012, and the air quality didn't seem significantly different from any Canadian or American cities that I've visited. I also don't recall seeing anyone wearing face masks.
YMMV.
- Kill ~700.000 people/year by accepting pollution levels way beyond "hazardous" -> profit. Multi billion $ tech gadgets and parts order underway.
Anything above 200 micrograms per meters cubed is akin to being in a room with someone smoking a cigarette. Particles that measure above that density are usually smoke particles. A measurement below 60 micrograms per meters cubed or below is considered "good" by EPA standards. Standing outside in Beijing right now is like being in a smoke filled bar, or hanging out with someone smoking in their bedroom. I'd be interested to know what the numbers are for children in Beijing suffering from asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, and other respiratory diseases, not to mention lung cancer.
I live in a large American city and we get air quality warnings in the media from time to time.
The difference being the Chinese actually publish scientific measurements (PM2.5), while holier than thou American government just mutter something about don't go outside. What are our PM2.5 numbers, or what are you trying to hide?
Are the Chinese more transparent than us Americans?
Yes. Put the resources elsewhere. Where they will actually make a difference. FSM knows we have plenty of problems.
My colleague in Beijing reports values of 600+ on the monitor on their building.
I follow Chinese news quite closely, and it's funny 364 days out of the year news, pictures, video of China, Beijing, etc are as clear as any other city in the world. But once a year (or so) always on a foggy day, its OMG these sub-humans are killing the earth!!!
At least they're not crashing helicopters into building cranes like foggy London today I guess.
I would have thought this was the new anti-spy measure they implemented...
You don't get to argue against some straw man version of me from the future.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
The EPA now is mostly concerned with affecting the life of plant and animal species that are not even threatened (based on internationally accepted definitions), not other people.
Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
Ok, but you don't get to claim moral superiority because you don't collect entitlements (yet).
Affecting plant and animal populations, even if it's not to the point of extinction can still have effects on the human population. Just look at the bees. There's been a lot of research into that situation, just to save the honey. Not sure if the EPA was ever involved, though.
It is a no brainer about this report and problem. It started 50 years ago, just like the highways in Los Angeles -- That massive growth in population, massive cars, no EPA (actually, thank you again for no EPA), and why should the USA worry? I think we can just keep our mouths shut and the problem will solve itself - they will all develop COPD fast and die off fast... nice,, better than letter the IRS jerk us around, raise the retirement age to 70, rather than let the mortality rate stay at 74 for me, 79 for women... The US now has the largest and fastest growing bed of seniors that need to be bottle fed and nurses to our own financial debt to the grave...sorry, but true.
While the rest of the world is working towards cutting back on pollutants, China is making up for any cut backs. Perhaps while scaling back on out polutions we need to force China to do the same.