How Beijing's Air Quality Reports Contradict Each Other Monthly
Air pollution has always received the brunt of public scrutiny as more people move to urban centers in China. Once a taboo subject championed by the US Embassy's Twitter account, Beijing's air quality has become a top priority for its residents, resulting in the creation of air pollution alerts and warnings in recent years.
And yet, for all the anxiety that air pollution had caused in Beijing, it's become a non-issue lately. Sales of air purification devices are down, while fewer people seem to be wearing face masks. As contrary it may appear to previous trends, this isn't much of a riddle if you consider that the air quality in Beijing has improved lately. A peek outside at today's blue skies may confirm this, but a look at Chinese news reports will only muddle this assertion.
READ: Sky's the Limit: Beijing Air Quality Improves in First Quarter of 2018
As it were, it's difficult to ascertain the actual state of Beijing's air quality because we hear contradicting reports on a monthly basis, all coming from just two sources: China's Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) and the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau (BMEPB).
Going by these two agencies alone, monthly reports from them only make readers more confused, thereby reducing the state of Beijing's air quality to an unquantifiable equation.
To begin, MEE recently gave us the good news that Beijing has seen a year-on-year 1 percent increase of days with good air quality over the first half of the year. PM2.5 levels in the capital had decreased by an average of 15 percent between January and June over the same time last year.
On the other hand, things were just the opposite the month before. The MEE named Beijing as the fifth-worst Chinese city for air quality in May, saying that the city's monthly average PM2.5 levels had risen 8 percent to 54 micrograms per square meter.
Instead of looking specifically at the month of May, Xinhua quoted the BMEPB as saying Beijing's PM2.5 levels had decreased between January and May of this year, dropping 18 percent to 58 micrograms per square meter.
Back in April, the MEE blamed Beijing for its air quality, naming the capital as the tenth-worst Chinese city for air pollution in a press conference on May 24. Similarly, Reuters quoted a BMEPB news conference as saying Beijing's PM2.5 levels had increased by over one-fifth to 64 micrograms per square meter.
On the other hand, Xinhua shied away from reporting April specifics to quote the BMEPB as saying Beijing's air quality had improved over the first four months of the year. Xinhua said local PM2.5 levels decreased 22 percent to 59 micrograms per square meter during the first quarter of the year while also enjoying an additional four days of good air quality for a total of 77.
READ: Believe It or Not: Beijing's Air Quality Improved Drastically in 2017
As bad as April was, so was March. Xinhua didn't mind telling us that Beijing's air quality during the third month of the year had deteriorated as both its PM2.5 and PM10 levels had increased by one-fifth.
For all these contradictions, everyone can agree that Beijing's air quality was excellent for the first two months of the year. January saw a 70 percent year-on-year decrease in Beijing PM2.5 levels, allowing the city to reach nationally-set standards for the first time, while the MEE said Beijing's year-on-year PM2.5 levels dropped by almost a third to 50 micrograms per square meter in February.
Now, that's a lot of back and forth. If we were guilty of speculating, we'd say that news delivering a good spin on Beijing's air quality will enlarge its scope as a way to mitigate displeasing data, all the while months of bad air quality usually follows those of good air quality as though to project a balance between the two extremes.
READ: Big City, Big Smoke: Local Vehicles Blamed for Majority of Beijing's Air Pollution
But, who's to say? The state of Beijing's air quality is too confusing for any one person to comprehend, thereby requiring the need to read even more contradicting reports.
Image: Mirror.co.uk
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