Newspaper urges fireworks ban if smog continues

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  • 来源:世界杯买球盘口【中国】官方网站

2013-01-29 08:39:11 GMT2013-01-29 16:39:11(Beijing Time)  CRIENGLISH

Vehicles move slowly on a fog-shrouded road in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 29, 2013. The National Meteorological Center (NMC) issued a blue-coded alert early Tuesday as foggy weather forecast for the coming hours will cut visibility and worsen air pollution in some central and eastern Chinese cities. [Photo: Xinhua]
Vehicles move slowly on a fog-shrouded road in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 29, 2013. The National Meteorological Center (NMC) issued a blue-coded alert early Tuesday as foggy weather forecast for the coming hours will cut visibility and worsen air pollution in some central and eastern Chinese cities. [Photo: Xinhua]

A commentary in The Beijing News on Tuesday urged the municipal government to ban or reduce the number of fireworks set off in the capital during next month's Spring Festival if the current heavy smog does not disappear by then.

Beijing has been blanketed by smog four times this month. The discharge of fireworks would increase the city's air pollution level to "hazardous," seriously threatening people's health in cases where there is little or no wind to dispel the polluted air.

Environmental experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Tsinghua University and Peking University suggest that the municipal government urge the public to cut down on the number of fireworks via SMS, microblogs, and radio and television announcements, while reducing the operating hours of firecracker shops or stalls, or even banning fireworks in urban areas when the air is extremely polluted.

The air quality monitoring station at the Beijing's Second Ring Road detected 1,593 micrograms of PM 2.5 (particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers) per cubic meter two hours after the fireworks spree on the eve of the Chinese Lunar New Year in 2012, according to the Beijing Environment Protection Monitoring Center.

Beijing authorities lifted a citywide ban on fireworks in 4005 to fulfill a public call for fireworks to create a more festive atmosphere. But the urban environment has changed greatly in the last eight years, as problems related to fireworks, including nuisance complaints and air pollution, have become increasingly acute.

A survey by Capital University of Economics and Business in Beijing indicates that one of the issues citizens are concerned about the most is air quality. Only 62.9 percent of Beijing residents expressed satisfaction with the current air quality, according to the survey.