The Darkening Skyline of "Greyjing"
One of the world’s busiest cities brought to a standstill. Flights grounded. Schools deserted. Half-completed construction work abandoned. Shelves empty of the protective masks that were plentifully stocked only days ago…
29th January 2013 | Peter Rolton: Chairman, Rolton Group
It reads like something from the introduction to a far-fetched, post-apocalyptic film.
Sadly, this scene has once more become reality for China’s capital city: the fourth bout of harmful smog that Beijing has had to endure since the start of the month hit this week, and levels of pollution have flown to over 40 times the 300mg per cubic metre limit which marks a ‘hazardous’ classification by the World Health Organisation. With hospital admittance soaring up by 30% since the haze engulfed the city, it is not just the economy which has suffered, but the health of the area’s inhabitants. A study carried out by Greenpeace East Asia and Peking University’s School of Public Health in December last year concluded that over eight and a half thousand premature deaths occurred in four major Chinese cities in 2012 due to high levels of PM2.5 pollution, the very same type which now hangs over the north and east of the country and is getting worse.
The winter months bring with them a lack of wind to disperse the huge amounts of pollution which gather in the city, leaving the toxicity which is usually blown out of sight and out of mind to wreak havoc on thousands of lives. Perhaps the continued physical evidence is finally spurring the country into action, however; under the pressure of global scrutiny, the country’s Government now seems ready to acknowledge the true cause of what they have previously tried to brush off as normal ‘fog’: the extensive burning of carbon heavy fuel which powers the city.
Legislation is now being formulated to combat the problem, though it could be argued that doling out fines for the use of pollutant-emitting vehicles during times when the smog hits is somewhat too little, too late. Whilst attention should certainly be paid to discouraging the use of inefficient or fuel-hungry machines in such conditions, more important is the prevention of these days in which total shutdown becomes the only option. The country does not have a particularly reliable track record when it comes to the enforcement of these laws, either; the Beijing smog also featured in a blog I wrote over a year ago, and very few steps forward have been made in the time that has passed. Previous laws have been rendered completely ineffective because no preventative action appears to be taken against those who ignore them.
China is the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, having in recent years subscribed to an incredibly rapid program of industrialisation with little thought to the sizeable environmental consequences. Now the country is faced with urgent calls to address the problem, but its pervasive nature must be acknowledged before rash action is taken: those who use the least efficient, fuel-guzzling car or boilers, for example, often do so because they can’t afford to upgrade them. Implementing fines for their use will serve to hurt the most financially vulnerable members of society, and a more integrated approach must be taken to do the long term good so desperately needed in terms of reducing consumption, utilising cleaner technologies and creating sustainable energy sources. If the country is as serious about combatting the issue as it has recently claimed to be, a lasting and well-considered response to this situation will prove it.
Easy as it maybe for many in the UK to view this as a somewhat distant issue, it was only decades ago that London was shrouded by the same, coal-driven problem. Two giant power stations situated in the heart of the city created equally damaging fumes as those which are now causing so much disorder and sickness across the globe. Before the Clean Air Act was introduced in 1956, thousands died from respiratory problems which came about after Britain went through an extremely accelerated rate of industrial growth after the Second World War. In essence, the UK has been where China finds itself now, and the unprecedented death toll the country suffered should speak volumes for the importance of finding an appropriate solution.
Admitting there is a problem is the first step to solving it, but what becomes vital now is that the physical short-sightedness brought about by the smog does not seep into the Governmental response. The powers that be must take the bull by the horns and address each component part of China’s worsening
situation, because if one thing is certain, it is that this is one problem which will not blow over.
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