Beijing (dpa) - The sky over Beijing has darkened ominously. The
sun is scarcely able to break through the thick smog as the
skyscrapers of the city of 20 million disappear in the murk.
The air has a burnt smell, and many people wear face masks.
"I scarcely dare to breathe," one 47-year-old woman says. "It's
unbelievable."
Beijing's residents are accustomed to poor air quality, but nobody
can recall experiencing smog as bad as this. Some fear breathing may
even be fatal.
The queues at the children's hospital are longer than usual.
"Yesterday we went into the park with our child. The coughing has
been constant since we returned," a man named Zhou told the Fazhi
Wanbao newspaper, referring to his 2-year-old daughter.
"The examination revealed inflamed bronchial passages," Zhou said.
The number of sick children has risen sharply, and older people in
particular are also suffering. Doctors are reporting an increase in
the number of patients with heart and circulatory problems.
The situation has been deteriorating since Thursday. On Saturday
the air pollution index used by the US embassy showed atmospheric
particulate pollution had soared to unprecedented levels.
It reached a "hazardous" level of 472, then rose to 728 before
reaching a shocking 845 in the evening. The original inventor of the
scale did not imagine values above 500, and a new category of
"extremely hazardous" has had to be created.
Even the measurement index of the official authorities, which do
not like to acknowledge serious air pollution, has reached the 500
limit.
The fine dust particulates capable of passing directly into the
blood via the lungs were taking the measurement devices to the limit,
the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
There is an official smog alert, but cars are allowed to continue
driving, and factories are still pumping pollutants through their
chimneys, even though new regulations this year allow a ban when
conditions are "extremely bad."
"How bad does it have to get?" a 43-year-old man asked. So far,
the only official advice was to remain indoors.
"My lungs are hurting, and my eyes are burning" a secretary says.
Internet bloggers are reacting with sarcasm. "Beijing, I really
love you - to suffocation," one wrote.
"There is a burning smell in the air. What's happened?" another
blogger wrote.
The main cause behind the smell is the burning of coal by
industry, power stations and heating plants. China draws two thirds
of its energy from coal. Consumption rose by as much as 44 per cent
during 2005-10 in the world's second-largest economy, according to
figures published by Greenpeace.
There is an increasing number of cars on the road, with more than
5 million in Beijing alone, up from 3 million five years ago.
A new study by Beijing University and Greenpeace estimated that
8,572 people died prematurely as a result of particulate pollution
last year in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Xi'an.
The researchers said the true number could be much higher because
their sample was limited.
Beijing and the other big cities will have to limit and ultimately
cut back coal consumption in order to reduce particulates, switching
to alternative, renewable energy sources instead, Greenpeace said.
The environmental group noted that about half of all the coal in
China is burnt in industrial boilers that are inefficient and emit
more pollutants into the air than normal coal-fired power stations.
Copyright 2013 dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur GmbH