Winter Pollution in China Expected to Be Worse Than Usual

By Justine Lopez

Sorry guys, but it looks like Beijing’s winter pollution might be even worse this year. On Sunday, the Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP) announced that they are “not optimistic” about the weather forecast for the fall and winter months. And this poor weather forecast is expected to cause higher levels of smog in the capital.  

These "unfavorable weather conditions" are reportedly caused by the increased melting of the Arctic icecap and the warming of the Pacific Ocean. The result is a weakening in high-pressure cold fronts hitting Southern China from Siberia, causing warm and humid weather in Beijing, Reuters reports.

The air quality has been especially poor since Thursday, spiking above 200 Saturday. According to the South China Morning Post, the smog season has arrived earlier than usual as spikes like this usually don’t occur until mid-September (as was the case in 2015 and 2016).

MEP also announced Sunday that it would take immediate measures to decrease pollution levels, including reducing emissions, enforcing emission reduction regulations and improving the smog forecasting system from the current seven days to 10 days. 

“Heavy pollution has become a concern that reaches the heart and lungs of the Chinese public, and the Ministry of Environmental Protection will go all out to make it a top priority,” the MEP announced on its website Sunday.

“Combating severe air pollution needs to be made our most important job right now. [However] the air condition this autumn and winter does not allow for any optimism.”

Despite the grim news, Beijing still aims to meet the 2017 pollution goals and decrease PM2.5 levels by 15 percent from the months of October to March.

A 143-page winter pollution agenda was released by MEP last month. The goal is to employ strict pollution enforcements to meet the ambitious air quality goals that were set in 2013. 

The plan is to reduce levels seen in 2012 by over one quarter to an average of 60 micrograms per cubic meter this year. In 2016, the daily average was 73.

However, it looks like this goal is going to be even more challenging to meet. During the first seven months of the year PM2.5 levels were quite high at 64 micrograms per cubic meter. The capital was plagued by extreme pollution during the months of January and February causing the average to jump. 

[Image via The Washington Post]

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