Through the haze in China... is more and more haze

Photo by faungg

We are all familiar with the imposing skyline of Shanghai, it's been voted the 4th best in the world. But us residents are even more familiar with the thick smog that clings to the buildings, producing ghostly silhouettes. Despite previous reports that the smog levels in China were receding, the authorities have now reaffirmed that China’s air quality is worsening.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection silently landed two destructive blows when they announced that in the first quarter of this year, China's air pollution rose (the first quarterly rise since 2007). They swiftly backed this up early this week when they announced that so far this year, the air quality has been at its worse since 2005! As if the humid heat wave we’re all suffering from wasn’t enough!

Should we be so surprised though? With most of the things the world now owns being made in China, one of the key players contributing to the smog is - you guessed it - factories. There has been a colossus increase in particle pollution levels such as soot, with levels across China rising to 0.091 milligrams per cubic meter. This time last year, levels were at just 0.002 milligrams per cubic meter.