China’s most vexing problem isn’t the slowing economy, corruption or social harmony. It’s dirty air. China is home to some of the world’s most polluted cities, and when its thick blanket of smog blows into urban areas, frantic citizens pick up their mobile phones to check air-quality levels. Pollution is shortening lives in the world’s most populous nation and, by some accounts, is the main cause of social unrest. It’s providing a pervasive reminder of the trade-offs at the heart of China’s transition from developing country into prosperous, modern nation, forcing the Communist Party to balance the rush for economic growth against the threats to life and health. Can China clear the air?
The Situation
A documentary film on China’s filthy skies similar to “An Inconvenient Truth” drew more than 100 million viewers online in early 2015, returning the spotlight to the issue. It was later scrubbed from websites. Public concern about air pollution exploded as Beijing’s levels of PM2.5, the tiny particles posing the greatest risk to human health, were stuck at hazardous levels for a week in early 2014 and peaked at 35 times the World Health Organization’s recommended limit. Trapped in a cloud worse than most airport smoking lounges, the capital’s 21 million residents donned face masks, kept their kids indoors and complained on social networks. State-backed media provided surprisingly critical coverage of the crisis and foreign outlets dubbed it an “airpocalypse.” Discrepancies between official air-quality readings and those from the Twitter feed of the U.S. Embassy’s rooftop monitor helped push the government to provide more real-time data from around the country. A pile of recent studies have also raised alarm bells. One report said people in northern China may be dying five years sooner because of air pollution-linked diseases and another linked pollution and lung cancer. Chinese authorities responded, tightening environmental laws, raising the fuel tax, shutting coal-burning power plants, limiting the number of cars and unveiling more investments in solar and wind power.
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