8/31/2014

China's toxic air pollution resembles nuclear winter, say scientists | Environment | theguardian.com

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China's toxic air pollution resembles

nuclear winter, say scientists
Air pollution now impeding photosynthesis and potentially wreaking
havoc on country's food supply, experts warn
Jonat han Kaiman in Beijing
theguardian.com , Tuesday 2 5 February 2 01 4 1 6 .00 GMT

China's worsening air pollution has exacted a significant econom ic toll, grounding flights, closing highway s
and deterring tourists. Photograph: STR/AFP/Getty Im ages

Chinese scientists have warned that the country's toxic air pollution is now so bad that it
resembles a nuclear winter, slowing photosynthesis in plants and potentially wreaking
havoc on the country's food supply.
Beijing and broad swaths of six northern provinces have spent the past week blanketed
in a dense pea-soup smog that is not expected to abate until Thursday. Beijing's
concentration of PM 2.5 particles those small enough to penetrate deep into the lungs
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China's toxic air pollution resembles nuclear winter, say scientists | Environment | theguardian.com

and enter the bloodstream hit 505 micrograms per cubic metre on Tuesday night. The
World Health Organisation recommends a safe level of 25.
The worsening air pollution has already exacted a significant economic toll, grounding
flights, closing highways and keeping tourists at home. On Monday 11,200 people visited
Beijing's Forbidden City, about a quarter of the site's average daily draw.
He Dongxian, an associate professor at China Agricultural University's College of Water
Resources and Civil Engineering, said new research suggested that if the smog persists,
Chinese agriculture will suffer conditions "somewhat similar to a nuclear winter".

Buildings in the
central business district in Guangzhou seen through the thick haze. Photograph: Alex
Lee/Reuters
She has demonstrated that air pollutants adhere to greenhouse surfaces, cutting the
amount of light inside by about 50% and severely impeding photosynthesis, the process
by which plants convert light into life-sustaining chemical energy.
She tested the hypothesis by growing one group of chilli and tomato seeds under
artificial lab light, and another under a suburban Beijing greenhouse. In the lab, the
seeds sprouted in 20 days; in the greenhouse, they took more than two months. "They
will be lucky to live at all," He told the South China Morning Post newspaper.
She warned that if smoggy conditions persist, the country's agricultural production could
be seriously affected. "Now almost every farm is caught in a smog panic," she said.

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China's toxic air pollution resembles nuclear winter, say scientists | Environment | theguardian.com

A farmer turns soil to

plant crops near a state-owned lead smelter in Tianying that has made much of the land
uninhabitable. Photograph: David Gray/Reuters/Corbis
Early this month the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences claimed in a report that
Beijing's pollution made the city almost "uninhabitable for human beings".
The Chinese government has repeatedly promised to address the problem, but
enforcement remains patchy. In October, Beijing introduced a system of emergency
measures if pollution levels remained hazardous for three days in a row, including closing
schools, shutting some factories, and restricting the use of government cars.

People visiting the

Olympic Park amid the thick haze in Beijing. Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters
According to China's state newswire Xinhua, 147 industrial companies in Beijing have cut
or suspended production. Yet schools remained open and government cars remained on
the road.
One person not put off by the smog was President Xi Jinping, who braved the pollution
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to make an unannounced visit to a trendy neighbourhood popular with tourists.

Dressed in a black jacket and trousers and no facemask Xi made a brief walkabout in
Nanluoguxiang district last Thursday morning. The visit prompted approving coverage
in Chinese news reports, but also mockery on social media sites. "Xi Jinping visits
Beijing's Nanluoguxiang amid the smog: breathing together, sharing the fate," said a
Xinhua headline.
Photos and shaky video footage apparently of Xi's visit ricocheted around Chinese social
media sites. "Why isn't he wearing a facemask?" asked one Sina Weibo user. "Isn't it bad
for his health?"
This week Chinese media reported that a man in Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei
province near Beijing, had sued the local environmental protection bureau for failing to
rein in the smog. Li Guixin filed the lawsuit asking the municipal environment protection
bureau "perform its duty to control air pollution according to the law", the Yanzhao
Metropolis Daily reported.
Li is also seeking compensation for the pollution. "Besides the threat to our health, we've
also suffered economic losses, and these losses should be borne by the government and
the environmental departments because the government is the recipient of corporate
taxes, it is a beneficiary," he told the Yanzhao Metropolis Daily.
Li's lawyer, Wu Yufen, confirmed the lawsuit but refused to comment because of the
sensitivity of the case. He said: "This is the first ever case of a citizen suing the
government regarding the issue of air pollution. We're waiting for the judicial authority's
response."

Diseased vegetables
said to be caused by pollution from a chemical plant. Photograph: How Hwee
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Young/EPA
Li told the newspaper that he had bought an air purifier, masks and a treadmill, but
none had helped him to overcome the pernicious health effects of the smog. He is seeking
RMB 10,000 (1,000) in compensation. "I want show every citizen that we are real
victims of this polluted air, which hurts us both from a health perspective and
economically," he said.
Li Yan, a climate and energy expert at Greenpeace East Asia, said the case could bring
exposure to polluted cities outside of Beijing, putting pressure on provincial officials to
prioritise the problem. She said: "People who live in Beijing are suffering from the
polluted air, but we have the attention of both domestic and international media.
Shijiazhuang's environmental problems are far more serious, and this case could bring
Shijiazhuang the attention it has deserved for a long time."
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China's toxic air pollution resembles nuclear winter, say scientists | Environment | theguardian.com

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