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sandiway
Joined: 15 Dec 2003
Posts: 4902
Location: back in Tucson12/20/13 11:28 AM |
I was in Shanghai this summer. It doesn't have much of a smog problem compared to Beijing. I was able to take clear pictures. (I was also in Beijing. It was awful. Certain times of the day, you couldn't see much of the Forbidden City even from being across the road.)
I'm also an asthmatic...
Sandiway
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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC12/20/13 11:37 AM |
Beijing always had a smog problem, even back in the days of Mao. It's just officially they didn't acknowledge it back in those days. Still, rumors from people living in Beijing indicates there's air quality issue even then.
Perhaps it has to do with it being an inland city (vs. Shanghai being a coastal city)?
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Sparky
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 19083
Location: PDX12/20/13 1:02 PM |
Sulfur heavy coal in the Elec plants??
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI12/20/13 7:51 PM |
Domestic heat
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Sulfur heavy coal in the Elec plants??
Yes, but also a LARGE amount of coal briquettes used for domestic heating and hot water. All of it burned without a scintilla of pollution control.
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April
Joined: 13 Dec 2003
Posts: 6593
Location: Westchester/NYC12/20/13 9:00 PM |
heating
That might be true of the surrounding area. But I don't believe that's the case within the city. When I went to visit, most building furnace uses city gas . Propane?)
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PLee
Joined: 08 Dec 2003
Posts: 3713
Location: Brooklyn, NY12/20/13 10:28 PM |
Shanghai is not as bad as Beijing, but I've been in Shanghai on days when visibility was 50 yards at best. Recently, they had a few days when it was the worst they'd ever had - they actually closed schools and some government offices.
Beijing's problems are a combination of no pollution controls on cars and trucks, an exponential increase in the number of vehicles on the road, coal burning, and being downwind of a nearby desert.
China is finally showing signs of taking their pollution seriously.
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KerryIrons
Joined: 12 Jan 2004
Posts: 3236
Location: Midland, MI12/21/13 7:51 PM |
Changing rules
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China is finally showing signs of taking their pollution seriously.
According to news reports they are raising the levels at which they announce air quality problems. They got so many alerts that people were not paying attention. China plans to build a LOT of coal fired power plants. Hopefully they will have best practice pollution controls but that certainly is not the history.
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sandiway
Joined: 15 Dec 2003
Posts: 4902
Location: back in Tucson12/22/13 7:55 PM |
where the smog comes from
quote:
air pollution arising from nearby regions (Hebei , Inner Mongolia, Shandong, Shanxi and Tianjin) contributed to 25 per cent of the capital's smog. The other significant sources are local vehicle emissions, at 22 per cent, and coal burning, at 17 per cent.
Steps Beijing itself is taking:
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The city would reduce coal consumption from the current 23 million tonnes a year to 10 million tonnes, limit the total number of vehicles it permits on the roads to 6 million, and close down 1,200 polluting factories.
These quotes are from a recent article in the South China Morning Post (HK's major English language newspaper).
Sandiway
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