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Beijing Issues 'Red Alert' Over Smog (independent.co.uk)
An anonymous reader writes: The Chinese capital of Beijing has issued a "red alert" for air quality within the city, the first time the city has reached the level of caution where it's deemed "unhealthy" for all residents. Starting Tuesday morning, schools will be shut down, the production of smoke will be limited, and cars will be under an odd/even alternate day ban while the local government waits for air quality to improve. It's expected to last until mid-day on Thursday when the weather looks likely to blow it away. "Air pollution monitors showed that areas of Beijing had more than 256 micrograms per cubic metre of the poisonous particles. The World Health Organisation (WHO) says that anything over 25 micrograms is considered unsafe. The poisonous smog in Beijing is caused by the burning of coal for industry and heating, as well as huge amounts of dust from the city's many construction sites. The problem is being made yet worse by high humidity and low wind." The city has been in bad shape for a while now, and Greenpeace called for this very measure a week ago.
When a billion people die of congestive lung failure all around the same period. Of course, given our current state of continuous war, combined with a ever growing lack of resources, we should lose a billion even sooner after we have fished the oceans dry. You can't feed 8 Billion with a drought and empty oceans at the same time.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
Um, so . . . where is it going to be blow away to . . . ? Maybe Shanghai . . . ?
California!
“He’s not deformed, he’s just drunk!”
The highest PM2.5 in Los Angeles is estimated (it wasn't measured back then) to have been about 100 ppm (from the LA times last year: http://www.latimes.com/world/a...). In recent times, the max was 79, and the daily average is 18 or so. That puts Beijing at 2.5x the worst LA has ever seen and about 15x worse than LA on any given day.
Rome had gladatorial contests from 216 BC to 354 AD with smaller contests continuing into the late 400's, possibly early 500's.
Most (99.999%) nations fall faster than that, so bread and circuses was a solution more than a problem.
So it did work out pretty well for the Romans.
She was like chocolate when she drank... semi-sweet at first and then increasingly bitter.