Smog returns to BJ, but heavily polluted days 'down 50%' in 2018

We had a really good run, but is the smog beast back?

After what seemed like an inexplicably wonderful spell of blue skies and fine weather, the pollution pundits at China Daily reported today that 'not favourable' weather conditions in Beijing were to blame for the atrocious thickening of the skies. If you don't know what we're talking about, you clearly didn't go outside in the last 48 hours, so see exhibit A below.

Exhibit A: Guomao on Sunday 14 Oct. Image: @thetoleikis.

While this new smog – which caused the AQI to head over the 200 mark for the first time in months  – made this Monday hard to bear, apparently the pollution will have peaked today, with the sudden appearance of a suspiciously not forecast, but not unwelcome, rain leading to clearer skies on Tuesday. However, a quick look at the AQI forecast tells a different story for the rest of the week:

Purple signifies 'very unhealthy' air quality. Image: screenshot from aqicn.org on Mon 15 Oct

A temporary reprieve, it seems, but if this year's form is anything to go by, there's reason to hold out hope that this won't stick around too long: according to new stats released by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau, our fine city has seen a 16.7 percent drop in PM 2.5 density during the first three quarters of this year. 

While this decline was to 50 micrograms per cubic metre – still above recommended levels – there was also a reported average density of just 35 micrograms per cubic metre in January, August and September, apparently the best recorded densities to date. Which is also getting remarkably close to the WHO guideline of a 25 micrograms per cubic metre 24-hour mean. Yay.

Additionally, as Xinhua reports, there were a mere eight 'heavily polluted' days from January to September, down 50 percent year-on-year – though they didn't specify at which exact AQI level pollution is considered heavy. In any case, that would mean that just 3 percent of the year so far was heavily polluted. A whole lot of unpolluted time, and, oh my, doesn't our city look beautiful under the big Beijing Blue.

Image: @isabelemery

Other pollutants have also declined this year, with sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and PM 10 decreasing by around 33, 16, and 14 percent, respectively. Perhaps Beijing really is becoming the next big thing in smogbusting?

For great ways to stave off pollution woes in Beijing, hit 'Read more'.

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