Black and blue then back again: What鈥檚 going on with Beijing skies?
Call it a temporary fix.
In the two weeks leading up to a much-anticipated military parade on Thursday 鈥� a spectacle celebrating 70 years since Japan鈥檚 surrender in World War II 鈥� Beijing鈥檚 notoriously polluted skies were clear and blue. Less than a day after the event, however, residents awoke to the familiar sight and smell of gray smog in the Chinese capital.
The sudden shift has left residents 鈥渓ess than thrilled鈥� by the idea that authorities will only clean up the city during big events, . It also highlights the challenges Beijing faces in achieving and maintaining its goals to significantly reduce carbon usage ahead of a December international climate change conference in Paris.
鈥淭he 鈥榩arade blue鈥� was gone in an instant, like a piece of magic,鈥� posted a user on Chinese social media site Weibo, . 鈥淚鈥檝e got used to the beautiful blue skies and suddenly feel a sense of insecurity.鈥�
Ahead of the parade, officials suspended or restricted operations in about 10,000 factories and 40,000 construction sites in Beijing and neighboring provinces, and restricted the city鈥檚 5 million vehicles to driving every other day, . The measures took effect in late August and ushered in a 15-day stretch of relatively clear air.
The result: Beijing residents and visitors were treated to 鈥減arade blue鈥� skies on Sept. 3, during which the city鈥檚 鈥� a widely accepted gauge for measuring the health risks in air 鈥� clocked in at a healthy 17 out of 500, according to the LA Times. Levels of PM2.5, particulate matter considered extremely dangerous to human health, dropped to for eight straight days.
"For 15 days, residents have experienced good air quality," said Zhang Dawei, director of the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center, . "It was as good as the annual index in some metropolises in developed countries, such as Paris, London, Moscow and Singapore."
The government eased the restrictions at midnight following the parade. By Friday, the air quality index was in parts of the city, and the smog had returned.
The world鈥檚 largest emitter of greenhouse gases, China鈥檚 coal use has escalated as its economy has boomed. In 2013, the country was responsible for 29 percent of the world鈥檚 carbon emissions, 海角大神 reported in July.
"But public concern about air pollution has pushed China to cut its use of coal, which in 2014, the first drop in more than a decade.
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The sudden decline has led some analysts to speculate that China鈥檚 carbon emissions could peak sooner than 2030. Many argue the proposed steps still fall short of what the country could and should achieve.
Fuqiang Yang, a senior adviser on climate change and energy policy in Beijing for the Natural Resources Defense Council, says it鈥檚 鈥渉ighly possible鈥� for emissions to stop rising as early as 2025."
Beijing鈥檚 switch from smoggy to clear and back again, however, is not new: Authorities achieved a similar transformation last autumn, when China hosted the high-profile Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. Residents described the sky then as 鈥淎PEC blue鈥� 鈥� a phrase some now associate, in jest, with short-lived relationships, .
Others took a more serious approach, weighing the costs of economic development against damage to the environment.
鈥淢ilitary Parade Blue is gone; in its place is our 鈥楴ormal Status Gray,鈥� 鈥� one Weibo user wrote, . 鈥淩esidents in Beijing will start cursing again. Do we want development? Or do we want the environment? This all shows that the pollution is caused by human activities, and that it鈥檚 possible to control.鈥�
