That's not manmade smog, it's a duststorm from nearby Gobi desert.
Beijing, Shanghai, Mumbai, Bangalore Delhi all the same. For 30 years spent 7 to 14 weeks a year traveling to these cities.Not fake news folks.
Note the business component, Chinese jobs, technology and growth. They are rapidly becoming the leader in solar, led bulbs, wind turbines.. Meanwhile Trump and his merry minions dream of turning the clock back, folks it is not going back.
Reality is:
Human overpopulation
Alternate energy becoming reality, solar competes nicely at 50 bucks a barrel, and will continue to improve. ( Brilliantly we are choosing to cede leadership in the field to the Chinese)
Strip mining and coal is not coming back, will continue to be pressed out . Whether wind, solar or an area my company dealt with biodiesel ( using waste from pig spray fields not corn, that is a big business chimera sold in Washington)
Make America Great Again? Nope, retreat into the past and die a soow death that is the slogan of the RIIC's coming on next week.
Congragulations to the Chinese .
Note the business component, Chinese jobs, technology and growth. They are rapidly becoming the leader in solar, led bulbs, wind turbines.. Meanwhile Trump and his merry minions dream of turning the clock back, folks it is not going back.
Reality is:
Human overpopulation
Alternate energy becoming reality, solar competes nicely at 50 bucks a barrel, and will continue to improve. ( Brilliantly we are choosing to cede leadership in the field to the Chinese)
Strip mining and coal is not coming back, will continue to be pressed out . Whether wind, solar or an area my company dealt with biodiesel ( using waste from pig spray fields not corn, that is a big business chimera sold in Washington)
Make America Great Again? Nope, retreat into the past and die a soow death that is the slogan of the RIIC's coming on next week.
Congragulations to the Chinese .
2
"Air Pollution in 2016 Likely Killed Over 5 Million and Cost Over $5 Trillion Globally
"The deadliest and costliest weather events of 2016 ... high pressure systems with light winds and stagnant air ... lethal build-ups of dangerous air pollutants in Asia. ... Great Smog of Delhi, hit the most polluted major city in the world—New Delhi, India"
"Shijiazhuang, capital of northern Hebei province, hit 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter—40 times the WHO standard. ... flights were cancelled in Beijing ... schools and factories were ordered shut, and 23 cities declared smog red alerts. Too often, we hear about the costs of air pollution regulations, but nothing on the savings in lives and money that result from breathing clean air. ... there are over 2,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies linking air pollution to "premature deaths”—mortality caused by air pollution that is only partly attributable to breathing bad air, but that would not have occurred otherwise. The World Bank estimated ... 5.5 million people, at a cost of over $5 trillion. The total costs to countries in East and South Asia related to air pollution mortality were about 7.5 percent of GDP, they estimated. Additional health care costs to people who did not die were not considered, and neither was pollution damage done to agriculture. ... air pollution globally under a business-as-usual emissions path will reach $23 trillion per year by 2050.
https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3536
"The deadliest and costliest weather events of 2016 ... high pressure systems with light winds and stagnant air ... lethal build-ups of dangerous air pollutants in Asia. ... Great Smog of Delhi, hit the most polluted major city in the world—New Delhi, India"
"Shijiazhuang, capital of northern Hebei province, hit 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter—40 times the WHO standard. ... flights were cancelled in Beijing ... schools and factories were ordered shut, and 23 cities declared smog red alerts. Too often, we hear about the costs of air pollution regulations, but nothing on the savings in lives and money that result from breathing clean air. ... there are over 2,000 peer-reviewed scientific studies linking air pollution to "premature deaths”—mortality caused by air pollution that is only partly attributable to breathing bad air, but that would not have occurred otherwise. The World Bank estimated ... 5.5 million people, at a cost of over $5 trillion. The total costs to countries in East and South Asia related to air pollution mortality were about 7.5 percent of GDP, they estimated. Additional health care costs to people who did not die were not considered, and neither was pollution damage done to agriculture. ... air pollution globally under a business-as-usual emissions path will reach $23 trillion per year by 2050.
https://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=3536
5
Time Laps implies time but none is listed in the article. I could produce that scene in any afternoon in the Richman District of San Francisco as the fog moves in with relative clean air from the pacific.
In Beijing’s the implication is that it was intensifying toxic air from Hebei province’s industrial complexes or such; adding to the traffic related pollution of a city with over twenty million population. Fairly amazing Beijing was able to pull off blue skies for the 2008 Olympics and yet faces that problem.
They need the smog control standards California managed to impose on the automotive industry in America and the clean air provisions battling for implementation there today.
In Beijing’s the implication is that it was intensifying toxic air from Hebei province’s industrial complexes or such; adding to the traffic related pollution of a city with over twenty million population. Fairly amazing Beijing was able to pull off blue skies for the 2008 Olympics and yet faces that problem.
They need the smog control standards California managed to impose on the automotive industry in America and the clean air provisions battling for implementation there today.
Right below the video it says 20 minutes.
Wunderground has provided some facts and figures. There is no question that pollution is killing and sickening vast numbers of people in China, India, and elsewhere.
Wunderground has provided some facts and figures. There is no question that pollution is killing and sickening vast numbers of people in China, India, and elsewhere.
3
You can get a sense of the time by watching the speed of the cars on the highway.
The difference with the fog rolling into SF in that in the SF case, it's actually fog, whereas in the Beijing case, it's not fog, but toxic organic particles generated by burning coal, gasoline, and other fuels.
The difference with the fog rolling into SF in that in the SF case, it's actually fog, whereas in the Beijing case, it's not fog, but toxic organic particles generated by burning coal, gasoline, and other fuels.
2
Industrialization causes smog. Transportation causes smog. The smog in my area has been ramping up with recent economic growth. It is not as bad yet as it was in the late 1980s when the sky here was brown overhead every day, but it is brown on the horizon again. The brown color is creeping upward too.
I hope miles per gallon goals for the automobile industry are NOT rolled back by the new administration and the unleashed GOP Congress. I do not like the brown sky.
I believe China hopes to become the leading country on Green energy technology. It is a good goal and could end up becoming very profitable for them. It would also fix the Beijing smog problem. If they work hard at it, they can get rid of that smog in 5 to 10 years.
I hope miles per gallon goals for the automobile industry are NOT rolled back by the new administration and the unleashed GOP Congress. I do not like the brown sky.
I believe China hopes to become the leading country on Green energy technology. It is a good goal and could end up becoming very profitable for them. It would also fix the Beijing smog problem. If they work hard at it, they can get rid of that smog in 5 to 10 years.
3
@Carol
China is well along with dealing with the problem, and yes is a leader in green technology with solar and turbo development and transportation industry up grading to reduce carbon input and along with President Obama committed to the international commitments made most recently in Paris.
But implementation of techniques to reduce greenhouse emissions seemed to get bogged down when SOE’s are involved as these are themselves political power centers yielding rewarding incomes to their managers – sound familiar? And the massive unemployment as millions of workers would need to find reemployment must make for inter-party battles as proposal develop of laying down surplus firms are suggested.
Cooperative attitudes among the countries that produce more that 60% of the greenhouse gases (USA, PRC, and EU) could move the world toward a solution of Global Warming; see any prospect for that?
China is well along with dealing with the problem, and yes is a leader in green technology with solar and turbo development and transportation industry up grading to reduce carbon input and along with President Obama committed to the international commitments made most recently in Paris.
But implementation of techniques to reduce greenhouse emissions seemed to get bogged down when SOE’s are involved as these are themselves political power centers yielding rewarding incomes to their managers – sound familiar? And the massive unemployment as millions of workers would need to find reemployment must make for inter-party battles as proposal develop of laying down surplus firms are suggested.
Cooperative attitudes among the countries that produce more that 60% of the greenhouse gases (USA, PRC, and EU) could move the world toward a solution of Global Warming; see any prospect for that?
1
oh my god if someone wants to direct a noir film come to Beijing quick.
3
As a 68 yo woman who developed asthma about 20 years ago, I look at that pea soup thick mess and can NOT imagine how ANY ONE who has an option to NOT go there would be a fool to choose Beijing. In addition, anyone who has a family, especially babies, kids, who chooses to go there is beyond comprehension.
If you can't breathe, you can't live. If you're a baby with a growing brain & all the oxygen is contaminated with the muck, the poison that's in the air, it's as yet, incalculable how it will affect the life span, the intellectual capability, the possibility of new life. The Chinese government is beyond stupid if they don't start to fix this.
If you can't breathe, you can't live. If you're a baby with a growing brain & all the oxygen is contaminated with the muck, the poison that's in the air, it's as yet, incalculable how it will affect the life span, the intellectual capability, the possibility of new life. The Chinese government is beyond stupid if they don't start to fix this.
8
The PM 2.5 levels also became unhealthy Monday – in Seoul – because much pollution is blown over from China to South Korea and combined with local pollution, it becomes so bad that people are warned to stay indoors.
5
We live in an area of predominate blue skies in southwestern Hunan province but coming back from a city with mostly motor vehicle pollution intensified by winter conditions we were surprised to see our hills also encased in light foggy conditions. Any distortion that occurs I have always attributed to winds from the north – may be the case but as likely winter heating and the low cloud formations of winter. Beijing is like Los Angeles up against mountains that trap the air, The fifties and sixties were horrible but California led the nation in imposing smog controls and survived Beijing is in process is the best that can be said.
7
It is no wonder the Chinese elite are buying real estate overseas.
Their country's cities are becoming uninhabitable.
They've been sending their children to private schools and summer camps abroad in droves. Welcome to the Dystopian future.
Their country's cities are becoming uninhabitable.
They've been sending their children to private schools and summer camps abroad in droves. Welcome to the Dystopian future.
10
I was speaking about deregulation, specifically aquifers getting all junked out and how it would eventually effect farming. I was told they must collect rain water, we as well. They don't get it. We were sued by Canada when we were sending acid rain when the Rust Belt still wasn't partially rust.
4
Welcome to the world that the GOP and their fossil fuel owners want. Combine this disaster with your story, also today, about the horrors caused by unregulated electrical wiring, and you can see our future. Corporate owners rule us.
Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, one of the largest coal companies in the country, said on Fox Business last week that he is thrilled with Trmp's selection of Tillorson for State. Then he let out a telling verbal slip: "it will be great for our company, err, country." All of the major countries in the world now have been turned in plutocratic corporatocracies. Profits uber alles.
Robert Murray, CEO of Murray Energy Corporation, one of the largest coal companies in the country, said on Fox Business last week that he is thrilled with Trmp's selection of Tillorson for State. Then he let out a telling verbal slip: "it will be great for our company, err, country." All of the major countries in the world now have been turned in plutocratic corporatocracies. Profits uber alles.
22
Beijing is the most notorious but Tianjin, Xian, Chengdu have all had lethal levels of pollution for weeks. Trump loves coal? This is the consequence
16
This is what Los Angeles looked like in the '70s.
9
I saw this same "wall of smog" phenomenon in Riverside, California when I moved there in 1964. About 4 to 5 PM the wall of smog would advance from the west, coming from the Los Angeles basin, about 40 - 50 miles away. The thick smog burned your eyes, throat, and lungs. My college classmates returned from touch football nauseated and vomiting.
I am happy to say that the air in Southern California today is much cleaner today than back then. Vigorous anti-pollution controls on autos - which were loudly denounced at the time - contributed greatly to cleaning the air. And so did controls on stationary sources such as power plants, oil refineries, etc.
To those who decry government regulations, I say go back to 1964, and breathe deep. You will be in pain and your life will be shorter. Government regulations on air pollution cleaned up the air in Southern California and saved countless lives.
I am happy to say that the air in Southern California today is much cleaner today than back then. Vigorous anti-pollution controls on autos - which were loudly denounced at the time - contributed greatly to cleaning the air. And so did controls on stationary sources such as power plants, oil refineries, etc.
To those who decry government regulations, I say go back to 1964, and breathe deep. You will be in pain and your life will be shorter. Government regulations on air pollution cleaned up the air in Southern California and saved countless lives.
13
Uh-oh China, you better watch out.
Donald Trump will get mad at you if you try to reduce coal consumption.
Donald Trump will get mad at you if you try to reduce coal consumption.
10
Take a good look. Once the Trump administration gets done with the EPA, this is what we'll see in the next 10 years in many more cities in the USA. You'll then be honored to be able to purchase "Trump Fresh Air", air bottled in Antarctica and offered for sale in gold plated containers. The rest of you will just have to choke and die. Sad.
20
This toxic stuff doesn't stop at China's borders; it goes around the world, however attenuated, and their problem with smog becomes the world's problem.
23
Indeed, it is not hard to imagine future wars to stop such pollution.
6
World consumption is a major part of the problem. We consume the most of the stuff of our lives, built in the factories in China, that causes enormous pollution. The world's problem also resides in China's smog
6
True, although unlike many gaseous pollutants, the particulates do get rained out when the air goes through storms. In Beijing the air often clears up nicely (however briefly) after a nice strong rainshower.
1
As a teen In 1942 I learned to fly a Cub over prairies west of Chicago. In that 40 day period, flight was cancelled several times due to heavy smog carried over prairies by on-shore breeze off of the Lake. Visibility was less than a mile, just like Peijing today! The USA has been there, done that !
The returned WW2 vets' first big political victory was the BIPARTISAN Clean Air and Water regulations, signed into law by Nixon. Don't let the Bas..rds weaken or rescind them. SO, THAT'S AN ORDER! - from one of the last old soldiers !
destroy them. ThAT'S AN ORDER !!
The returned WW2 vets' first big political victory was the BIPARTISAN Clean Air and Water regulations, signed into law by Nixon. Don't let the Bas..rds weaken or rescind them. SO, THAT'S AN ORDER! - from one of the last old soldiers !
destroy them. ThAT'S AN ORDER !!
18
I'd be interested to know where this toxic air pollution eventually ends up. Does it precipitate out of the atmosphere and end up in nearby rivers and the Yellow Sea? Does some of it migrate into the upper atmosphere and like the radioactive fallout from Chernobyl become a trans-global problem? This must have been what London was like during the killer smog of 1952. Clearly the Chinese people in Beijing are bearing the brunt of this pollution at the moment, and I hope for their sake that their government will create and enforce clean air standards much like California did in the 70's and 80's. Now, imagine if we could actually see or smell the tonnes of carbon dioxide that we are pumping endlessly into the atmosphere from the exhaust pipes of our vehicles ... how much longer do you think we would tolerate it?
11
Not much longer...
what's a little smog in beijing when china's already protecting the environment by banning elephant ivory imports?
2
Having been to China many times, with each time being great seeing very hard working and caring people throughout the country, I leave saddened that I will never seek employment or extended time in the country for exactly the reason seen on this video.
I would prefer to live 10 extra years, years I can spend with kids and grand-kids (someday), talking story and helping them become awesome. Thus, I have chosen to live in a cleaner air place.
I'm hopeful for clean/renuable-technology to spread and become the norm. I am saddened with the selling-out of the incoming administration to using fast and dirty methods of making energy.
If people want to bash China, like Trump does, I suggest spending time there first to know what they're talking about.
I would prefer to live 10 extra years, years I can spend with kids and grand-kids (someday), talking story and helping them become awesome. Thus, I have chosen to live in a cleaner air place.
I'm hopeful for clean/renuable-technology to spread and become the norm. I am saddened with the selling-out of the incoming administration to using fast and dirty methods of making energy.
If people want to bash China, like Trump does, I suggest spending time there first to know what they're talking about.
10
When I was there in 2010, I thought it was dreadful, and spent about a month coughing China out of my lungs after returning to the US. One saw coal plants vomiting smoke, right next to nuclear power plants. I hope the nuclear plants were built with more care than the coal plants, but I doubt it.
7
I remember seeing this in LA in the early 80's a yellow haze that moved across the city until it obliterated the entire view. Thankfully, LA cleaned up their act.
8
Welcome to GOP environmental policy.
It's not pollution, it's just air you can see.
It's not pollution, it's just air you can see.
12
To those who always want to deregulate, and who consider pollution controls and regulations the "onerous burden" of an "overreaching government," may I suggest you would find Beijing exactly the kind of place you want to live. Please go there and let us keep our air and water clean, here in the well-regulated USA.
18
Many rich Chinese are buying houses in Canada, New Zealand, and other clear areas and are sending their children to overseas schools. I lived in Korea for 2 years and never needed sunglasses or saw a sunset, because the sun just faded when it was low.
8
It seems that the Chinese have caught up to the US of the 1960s in space technology, and now, air pollution.
I eagerly await the Chinese versions of Ed Sullivan and The Beatles...
I eagerly await the Chinese versions of Ed Sullivan and The Beatles...
3
This is full employment with no environmental regulation. Trump would be proud!
9
i'm reminded of growing up just south of the San Gabriels east of Los Angeles during the 70 and 80's. the mountains were only about a mile away and would completely disappear behind a cloke of smog. On those days, we would have a "smog day" at school and be home by noon. I remember becoming short of breath while we played the afternoon away, outside.
8
And people still think coal jobs are good for the economy, let alone the environment? Health care costs, reduced productivity, money spent on air filtering devices for homes, people not going out during the day, business' losing customers, the list goes on and on.
8
Undoubtedly the incoming administration will simply brand this "fake news", and continue to encourage the extraction industry's destruction of our environment for profit for a few well-connected men.
4
Beijing? That video shows what most American cities will look like after Trump and Big Business conservatives eliminate regulations and Make America Smoggy Again.
Yet another example of Trump and Big Business snookering the sheeple to vote for policies that are bad for them. The presumed Trump platform is that just as it has done in China, smog will create more jobs here.
At least being a Third World nation can be very good for unregulated business. Trump and his voters will make America the greatest Third World nation on Earth.
Yet another example of Trump and Big Business snookering the sheeple to vote for policies that are bad for them. The presumed Trump platform is that just as it has done in China, smog will create more jobs here.
At least being a Third World nation can be very good for unregulated business. Trump and his voters will make America the greatest Third World nation on Earth.
6
But Donald Trump claims that climate change is a Chinese socioeconomic political trick to prevent Americans from finding, drilling, mining and using more fossil fuels from coal to oil to natural gas.
Who wouldn't want more American cities to look like Beijing now or Los Angeles or Cleveland in the past?
Who wouldn't want more American cities to look like Beijing now or Los Angeles or Cleveland in the past?
7
I worked at a US multinational that sent me on an expat assignment to China for 2 years. They said it was the opportunity of a lifetime. They were right, I came back with permanent damage to my respiratory system, that leaves me short of breath and requires medication.
8
It's been estimated that the pollution in Northern China has cut life expectancy there by 5 years. http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2013/07/17/experts-mostly-back-new-st...
3
On a morbid level, air pollution is excellent tool (without discrimination) to control population growth.
I'm surprised too that Beijing had not come out to blame western governments or CIA (the oft used bogeymen for all things ill) for bringing hazardous air pollution to China, as Beijing is so apt to do.
But perhaps CIA has already had something in the works to do something like this to the Syrian government, to save us from sending in ground troops?
Just saying...
I'm surprised too that Beijing had not come out to blame western governments or CIA (the oft used bogeymen for all things ill) for bringing hazardous air pollution to China, as Beijing is so apt to do.
But perhaps CIA has already had something in the works to do something like this to the Syrian government, to save us from sending in ground troops?
Just saying...
2
Pollution does not pay any attention to those border lines on a map.
China's pollution becomes our pollution. We all get a share.
China's pollution becomes our pollution. We all get a share.
7
Ultimately, the problem is too many people in a small area of land. Crowding leads to environmental stress, food shortages, depletion of natural resources and degradation of living quality. But the world is at 8 billion and counting. Natures reality will teach us a lesson we cannot avoid or miss.
2
The 'Chinese Hoax' in action!
1
If the GOP has their way, the U.S. could return to this sort of scenario.
Our EPA regulations have made quality of life in this country far superior to that in China.
Our EPA regulations have made quality of life in this country far superior to that in China.
4
Wow this is sick!
I hope (for them) that the Chinese have an epiphany.
It’s not too late but they need to wake up, and we need to keep an eye on this so it doesn’t happen to US and Europe as well.
I hope (for them) that the Chinese have an epiphany.
It’s not too late but they need to wake up, and we need to keep an eye on this so it doesn’t happen to US and Europe as well.
1
One can only hope that the citizens that joined the tea party movement realize that their hidden overlords would do this by ending regulations on emissions. They would couch their argument screaming too much regulation and no freedom and the low informed would eat it all up.
19
The description, "the low informed," I'm starting to believe, gives those citizens too much credit.
In fact, they fervently embrace all the information they need coming from their "authentic" sources, and rabidly reject information emanating from your "elite" media sources.
It comes down to this; they don't need your stinking information.
In fact, they fervently embrace all the information they need coming from their "authentic" sources, and rabidly reject information emanating from your "elite" media sources.
It comes down to this; they don't need your stinking information.
4
But we want to go back to coal here right?
36
Makes New York seem like the Swiss Alps in comparison.
5
Decorative fireplace owners here in urban US cities should also get the message as well as the tens of thousands daily leaf blowers that contribute to toxic air. Please stop poisoning yourselves.
22
Should also be required viewing for every denier who says "climate change isn't man-made." This certainly isn't the result of "natural cycles."
14
While most of the articles of china's pollution focus on the capitol of China, little attention is paid to Shanghai, Guangzhou or Wuhan or a number of cities like Baoding which may be worse than Beijing. In fact, a report from CNN says the over 90% of the countries cities have unacceptable air quality.
China has a difficult problem, breathe fresh air or choke financially. Unfortunately, it appears the latter is winning. Hopefully not for long before an entire nation develops respiratory problems. Is it any wonder the rich are buying real estate anywhere else in the world to escape the acrid bitter air resulting from their economic success?
China is not alone with air quality problems with India having the top worst polluted cities in the world. A fact enough are not made aware of. The pollution will cover earth ubiquitously. Is it any wonder we explore options to live on Mars?
The tragedy is that we have the technology to save our planet but lack the political will as we are suffocated by the consummate greed of big business.
China has a difficult problem, breathe fresh air or choke financially. Unfortunately, it appears the latter is winning. Hopefully not for long before an entire nation develops respiratory problems. Is it any wonder the rich are buying real estate anywhere else in the world to escape the acrid bitter air resulting from their economic success?
China is not alone with air quality problems with India having the top worst polluted cities in the world. A fact enough are not made aware of. The pollution will cover earth ubiquitously. Is it any wonder we explore options to live on Mars?
The tragedy is that we have the technology to save our planet but lack the political will as we are suffocated by the consummate greed of big business.
26
Share this video with as many people as you can. This is very scary.
3
There but for the grace of god, Go We.
God has nothing to do with it. This is human activity, pure and simple. But sure, go ahead and ask the sky fairy to do for us what we can and should be doing for ourselves. Read up on the history of California's air quality and the aggressive human action necessary to bring it into a healthful state of being, all because humans willed it so.
14
It's interesting that the camera is above a roadway, filled with speeding cars during the entire duration of the sequence. Ya think that could be part of the problem?
8
So we've got cleaner air, cleaner water, safer food, better working conditions, and higher wages, but China is sucking all of the jobs out of our country because these very facts make it so much cheaper to manufacture goods there, the most recent result of which is the election and imminent inauguration of Donald Trump.
Perhaps some sort of tariffs tied to pollution and work standards might be in order? Just maybe?
Perhaps some sort of tariffs tied to pollution and work standards might be in order? Just maybe?
11
While Trump has made trade agreements the scapegoat for the loss of jobs, the facts are more mundane. The US has lost 6.4 million manufacturing jobs since 1980, and will continue to lose jobs, even if Trump crafts better deals with foreign powers. The 6 million jobs will never return because the culprit is not trade, it is automation. Those angry males who voted for Trump cannot compete against the technology which has replaced them and made their skills obsolete. The challenge before our leaders is to shape an economy that retains both its comparative advantage in technology and at the same time retrains those who have suffered from capitalism's "creative destruction." This may even require a transitional and substantial safety net while the process of economic re-integration proceeds. Stop gap measures, such as rebuilding a deteriorated infrastructure while welcome, will not solve the longer range issues. And, none of this will not be cheap, which is another way of saying that taxes need to increase. There is no sensible alternative.
8
China is getting all those jobs primarily because of low wages. Even if they had to meet the same environmental and regulatory standards -- safe products and safe working conditions -- they would still beat us on worker compensation
1
I share your thoughts on retraining those who lost their jobs to technology, but their job loss is not due to capitalistic destruction. Why wouldn't a company want to become more cost competitive by adapting to computer technologies? Companies must adapt or die. And people must due the same. No reason for workers to bury their heads in a hole. Companies need to help those who want to be retrained, but many people are unwilling.
Having spent my entire career in various IT jobs, I always found it necessary to continue to educate myself with new technologies, because it's sink or swim in the business world. So best be prepared.
Having spent my entire career in various IT jobs, I always found it necessary to continue to educate myself with new technologies, because it's sink or swim in the business world. So best be prepared.
1
Yup, I'm sure we can trust China on environmental issues! Good luck with that!
4
I would suggest Mr. Pope leave China. But it may be too late for that.
Had the Clean Air Act not been enacted decades ago, this could well have been New York or LA. Same for the water, which has big problems in China too.
16
I remember when the Bay Area had smog so bad you couldn't see buildings a quarter mile away, and that's with excellent geographic ventilation. When the winds did kick in it blew the smog next door into the Livermore Valley which was lightly populated at the time. Thank you EPA, Rachel Carson, Dave Brower, and Earth Day!
9
We have huge problems with our water here -- See Flint. But Flint is not some kind of outlier, Many many cities here in PA and around the nation have the same sorts of issues -- they just have not been so mishandled in a short period of time that they came to the attention of the news broadcasters
5
@Alex Kent
True, but the Clean Air Act was under attack by Congress under Obama and will not fare well with a Rep. President and cabinet with Scott Pruitt in charge of EPA who led the charge in Oklahoma, the future is not bright. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/us/politics/scott-pruitt-epa-trump.html
True, but the Clean Air Act was under attack by Congress under Obama and will not fare well with a Rep. President and cabinet with Scott Pruitt in charge of EPA who led the charge in Oklahoma, the future is not bright. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/12/07/us/politics/scott-pruitt-epa-trump.html
1
You reap what you sow.
2
China has to do a lot more environmentally and it will entail hard work, sacrifice, and dedication. Los Angeles was somewhat like this during my childhood and has similar topography that can trap air for long periods. Only after decades of aggressive, first-in-the-nation air quality standards did we finally create an environment where we rarely have unhealthy air days, even as our population has exploded.
The rest of the nation and, especially, conservatives can ridicule California all they want for long being environmentally conscious, but just look at Beijing. It's basic science in action. If the rest of the country wants to fight science and live with poisonous air and water just because dirty businesses want to make an extra buck or coal miners don't want to retrain, it can't and won't stop the largest, wealthiest state from boldly marching into a better future, alone if need be. We Californians will have the last laugh as Trump and his sycophants dismantle the very structures that keep this nation from becoming Beijing. Coal is over and so 19th century.
The rest of the nation and, especially, conservatives can ridicule California all they want for long being environmentally conscious, but just look at Beijing. It's basic science in action. If the rest of the country wants to fight science and live with poisonous air and water just because dirty businesses want to make an extra buck or coal miners don't want to retrain, it can't and won't stop the largest, wealthiest state from boldly marching into a better future, alone if need be. We Californians will have the last laugh as Trump and his sycophants dismantle the very structures that keep this nation from becoming Beijing. Coal is over and so 19th century.
35
Unfortunately the air quality in California in large areas is usually rated Moderate, Hazardous to sensitive groups or Unhealthy. Granted there has been significant improvement over the decades but there are still quite a few Very Unhealthy to Hazardous Action days. Please check your AQMD district status by zip or county.
2
I spent the month of August 1962 outside of LA
On my last day there the air cleared for some reason and I was surprised to see mountains
On my last day there the air cleared for some reason and I was surprised to see mountains
2
macbloom, I'm happy to be corrected when I'm factually wrong. I don't check AQMD forecasts and maybe we still have days of unhealthy air quality. Or perhaps the pollution of my childhood is gone while other forms have arisen given all the new chemicals since introduced into our environment.
I was going on my own experience. I remember as a child of the late 60s-early 70s the brown haze that would hang around the San Fernando Valley, not from an occasional wildfire but from smog. I can't really remember a similar scene in recent years. I remember coming home from school feeling pain deep in my lungs when I inhaled deeply. At middle age and still physically active outdoors, I can't remember having that same feeling. I remember the proposals, fights, new laws, and big changes in our lives as the city and state aggressively tackled the issue. I remember unleaded gas rolling out. I remember controversy over air vent scrubbers proposed for restaurant meat particulates. I especially remember freaking out as I realized I was regularly inhaling charred meat and grease! I remember various industries targeted and the threats to leave town. Some did but others adapted. Lately, it's wood fires targeted which bums me out because I do love a fire.
I actually lived through a genuine revolution that turned my childhood reality into a distant memory. So, we may still have unhealthful air days but my eyes and lungs tell me that the brown skies of my childhood and of Beijing are mostly gone.
I was going on my own experience. I remember as a child of the late 60s-early 70s the brown haze that would hang around the San Fernando Valley, not from an occasional wildfire but from smog. I can't really remember a similar scene in recent years. I remember coming home from school feeling pain deep in my lungs when I inhaled deeply. At middle age and still physically active outdoors, I can't remember having that same feeling. I remember the proposals, fights, new laws, and big changes in our lives as the city and state aggressively tackled the issue. I remember unleaded gas rolling out. I remember controversy over air vent scrubbers proposed for restaurant meat particulates. I especially remember freaking out as I realized I was regularly inhaling charred meat and grease! I remember various industries targeted and the threats to leave town. Some did but others adapted. Lately, it's wood fires targeted which bums me out because I do love a fire.
I actually lived through a genuine revolution that turned my childhood reality into a distant memory. So, we may still have unhealthful air days but my eyes and lungs tell me that the brown skies of my childhood and of Beijing are mostly gone.
1
China is not better than us. Now that we have a President like Trump we can catch up in no time.
9
We don't need no stinkin' EPA!
22
So your vote for pollution instead?
Polluted streams and rivers, so the water is not safe to drink and the air becomes unbreathable? I don't understand your reasoning. Can you elaborate on how we might not further pollute the environment that is essential for sustaining life?
Polluted streams and rivers, so the water is not safe to drink and the air becomes unbreathable? I don't understand your reasoning. Can you elaborate on how we might not further pollute the environment that is essential for sustaining life?
We live in an area of predominate blue skies in southwestern Hunan providence but coming back from a city with mostly motor vehicle pollution intensified by winter conditions we were surprised to see our hills also encased in light foggy conditions. Any distortion that occurs I have always attributed to winds from the north – may be the case but as likely winter heating and the low cloud formations of winter. Beijing is like Los Angeles up against mountains that trap the air, The fifties and sixties were horrible but California led the nation in imposing smog controls and survived Beijing is in process is the best that can be said.
4
Gotta love that "clean coal" that the Republicans want to mine.
15
PM10 particles are byproducts of coal and diesel combustion and escape most filtration. China's seniors and infants will evidence respiratory difficulties, some limiting lung function permanently.
Stalled exports to China of liquefied natural gas -- and even tar sands oil --via ships and pipelines might ease transition to renewable fuels. So would our not buying the products that are ruining Chinese air and lungs. In the end, our hunger for cheap Chinese goods increases expensive Chinese smog.
Stalled exports to China of liquefied natural gas -- and even tar sands oil --via ships and pipelines might ease transition to renewable fuels. So would our not buying the products that are ruining Chinese air and lungs. In the end, our hunger for cheap Chinese goods increases expensive Chinese smog.
4
It will be when Donald Trump takes office and tries to bring back coal.
3
Terrible. My heart goes out to those who must live in this. Obviously the problem isn't as bad in the U.S., but just think of all the good jobs that would be created by large scale conversion of our energy infrastructure to clean sources... Silly me, that wouldn't benefit the people who are really in charge of our country.
13
For a foreigner living in Beijing, life revolves around the Air Quality Index (AQI), which measures levels of ozone, particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen dioxide. Less than 50 is "good" (Honolulu's is 6 at this moment); over 101 is "unhealthy"; over 300 is "hazardous."
We recently visited our daughter, who works in Beijing. The day after we arrived, the AQI in her 15-th floor apartment was 48. In her enclosed hallway, it was 234; outside, it hit 420. At this moment, in parts of the city, the AQI is over 550!
To keep the AQI down, she uses five air purifier machines, which are kept running 24 hours-a-day. We met an American with a toddler, who has 16! His child is never allowed to leave his home.
Wearing a mask outside is absolutely essential, although I doubt whether it can be completely successful on 400-plus days. We saw mostly foreigners with masks. Tragically, few local residents--even those with small children--bother, even when one can't see more than two blocks ahead. "It's what it is!" is their attitude.
Much of this severe pollution can be blamed on the numerous coal-burning electrical stations in the area. For supporters of coal, and deniers of global warming, like our President-elect, I would invite them to spend a few days in Beijing. The city serves as a grim reminder that, unless we take major steps to save our environment, we may end up in this dark and dirty world of masks, air cleansers and premature deaths.
We recently visited our daughter, who works in Beijing. The day after we arrived, the AQI in her 15-th floor apartment was 48. In her enclosed hallway, it was 234; outside, it hit 420. At this moment, in parts of the city, the AQI is over 550!
To keep the AQI down, she uses five air purifier machines, which are kept running 24 hours-a-day. We met an American with a toddler, who has 16! His child is never allowed to leave his home.
Wearing a mask outside is absolutely essential, although I doubt whether it can be completely successful on 400-plus days. We saw mostly foreigners with masks. Tragically, few local residents--even those with small children--bother, even when one can't see more than two blocks ahead. "It's what it is!" is their attitude.
Much of this severe pollution can be blamed on the numerous coal-burning electrical stations in the area. For supporters of coal, and deniers of global warming, like our President-elect, I would invite them to spend a few days in Beijing. The city serves as a grim reminder that, unless we take major steps to save our environment, we may end up in this dark and dirty world of masks, air cleansers and premature deaths.
48
I've been there. I've seen it. Its disgusting.
9
I find this startling. I am not sure how long the Chinese will stand for it. Its an open question how long people will live in these cities.
2
This is the reason my husband, who has made many trips to that city, decided to decline a transfer to Beijing. When the commercials advertising the Beijing Olympics showcased a beautiful city with clear skies, he commented that the factories must have been shut down for days prior to their filming.
Micro-particle pollution causes illness and death here, too, as, once inhaled, these particles remain in our lungs forever. Most of us unfortunately seem to have the attitude that if we can't see it, it isn't harmful, but some things that we can see, such as the smoke from wood fireplaces, diesel exhaust, and the matter routinely blown about by leaf blowers, etc., have been grandfathered by authorities aligned with both major political parties. It's time to call these things out for the danger they are.
Micro-particle pollution causes illness and death here, too, as, once inhaled, these particles remain in our lungs forever. Most of us unfortunately seem to have the attitude that if we can't see it, it isn't harmful, but some things that we can see, such as the smoke from wood fireplaces, diesel exhaust, and the matter routinely blown about by leaf blowers, etc., have been grandfathered by authorities aligned with both major political parties. It's time to call these things out for the danger they are.
40
This should be required viewing for every Republican who believes that getting rid of the EPA or pollution regulations is a good thing. Better yet, make them live there for even a few days.
120
The will deny its happening.
4
Republicans don't and won't care as long as coal miners are voting for them, money is being made by their special interest buddies, and their own children aren't breathing the smog.
6
Precisely!
This should be seen by everyone!
36
People don´t care about it ! Sad scene !
2
It won't be