Despite Alerts, Beijing Smog Actually Improved in 2015

By Bridget O'Donnell

Despite all those red alerts for pollution, Beijing actually had some of its cleanest air in 2015, according to the Huffington Post. Guess all those anti-pollution measures are beginning to work?

Recent analysis by the Paulson Institute and Greenpeace of the US Embassy's air quality data shows that the city reduced its PM2.5 levels by 16 percent in 2015. Granted, most of those gains came during the summer and fall, but those numbers helped make 2015 the city's cleanest year since the embassy began publishing air quality data in 2008.

Beijing officials, meanwhile, announced earlier in the week that the air quality had improved by just six percent. (The Huffington Post attributes that to "Beijing's overly optimistic portrayals of pollution levels in 2014.")

While the overall improvements are promising, Beijing and much of China still averaged plenty of "unhealthy" days — including a handful of "airpocalypses." The 2015 winter season was also one of Beijing's worst on record, with data from the US Embassy showing the worst November-December air quality since the measurements began 2008.

[Images via BBC, Paulson Institute via Huffington Post]

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