Air pollution in Beijing is known for its alarming levels, but recently it’s gone from hazardous and unhealthy to completely off the charts. Flights were grounded due to poor visibility, and air quality reached “hazardous†standards, the most extreme level. According to the U.S. Embassy, pollution was so thick it was deemed “beyond index.â€
Oh, and of course people are still living, working, and breathing in this city. Air pollution this thick is extremely detrimental to human health and development, giving children pretty much a guarantee that they’re not far from asthmatic symptoms.
This explains why so many Chinese citizens are coming out with environmental protests, demanding the unresponsive state take some sort of control over it. This also makes us U.S. citizens a little more grateful for the Clean Air Act, doesn’t it?
If this isn’t the perfect indication for why every man, woman and child should take part and stand up in the name of environmental awareness, then I don’t know what will do it. Is there anything more integral to a full, thriving life than the air we breathe? I think not.
Via France24
Images CC licensed by 大æ¨: Air pollution in Beijing, photos taken December 4, 2011
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