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Air pollution hangs over the Bund in central Shanghai. 2008

This week’s ‘Photo of the Week’ is about a subject that is never too far away from the lips of China’s residents…air pollution. The above photograph was taken in Shanghai, in early 2008, towards the end of a trip I undertook travelling the Yangtze river. Shanghai is one of China’s most spectacular cities, however this alternative photo sheds the city in a different light. A somewhat greyish light, if you will.

The debate surrounding air pollution has always been intense. In the run up to the Olympic Games last summer, China famously banned cars from the roads, closed building sites and shut down factories ahead of the games, in attempt to clear up the air and protect competing athletes. Athletes arrived, some sporting masks, however it was generally perceived that air quality was improved during the games. A new study published just last month in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, has revealed that spectators and participants faced an “unprecedented level” of air pollution at the Games. Particulate air pollution in the air during the Beijing games was most worrying, well above the World Health Organisation’s safe limits and at levels almost 30% more than stated by experts in China.

To many, this news will not come as a surprise. While China did undertake great measures to reduce air pollution and reduce the threat to spectators and competitors during the Games, the initial levels were seemingly so high that their efforts still could not bring the levels to those deemed as safe by the WHO.

View of pollution hanging over the Beijing Skyline. API LEVEL 205 - Classification "VERY UNHEALTHY". July 13th 2009

Today, nearly one year on since the Games, life has almost returned to normal. The above picture (a bonus picture of the day if you will – taken today) shows the haze that has descended back onto the capital in recent days. The general consensus from many people on the street is that there have been many more ‘blue sky days’ in recent weeks and months since the Games, however blue skies do not always indicate safe air. It is the particulate matter, the particles that are naked to the human eye, yet breathed in unknowingly with each breath, that are the problem.

Statistics and data on the actual levels of pollution in Beijing aren’t too difficult to come upon, however the level of trust that can be placed in the results has always been debated. Depending on the source, they usually contradict oneanother. That’s why the emergence of an air pollution monitoring station on top of the American embassy  has quite a stir recently, updating its readings every hour via its page on Twitter. As discussed in this article here, air pollution levels stated by official sources are proving to be wildely different from those reported from the roof of the American embassy. Not completely surprising.

So what does this mean? Is China really doing anything to combat this issue in Beijing and other cities, now the Olympics has moved on? As a resident of Beijing for 3 years, I certainly worry about what effect breathing in this air is having. Of course, I have the choice to leave but I call this city home and so do millions of others. I worry that the residents of this great city are slowly being poisoned along with millions of others across China in similar situations.

So what about your city? Does anyone out there have links to their city’s air pollution? Anyone out there suffering like Beijing’s residents? Please feel free to post links to images.