Air Pollution Hi-Lo

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  • #9939
    Avatar photoBrendan
    Moderator

    hi-lo.jpg

    Come on kids, let’s place your bets on today’s lung paint. Currently at 286 at time of posting, I’m hedging mine cautiously at 300+ (so that’s higher then). Check in on the current figure anytime here, and then post it, along with your prediction (+/-).

    Good Luck!! 😀

    #25416
    Avatar photoJerryS
    Participant

    Ill wager 347 in the heart of the city.

    #25420
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    I’m guessing the sun is going to come out and reduce the pollution to 200 by late afternoon.

    #25428
    Avatar photoBrendan
    Moderator

    Currently at 246, and in need of participation!!

    #25450
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster
    Quote:
    I’m guessing the sun is going to come out and reduce the pollution to 200 by late afternoon.

    So close!

    cd-pollution.jpg

    #25453
    Avatar photoJerryS
    Participant

    Stay indoors, when outside have a mask on and please avoid lung cancer at all costs!

    #25486
    Avatar photoMr. Klink
    Participant

    Did a ride without the mask the other day with levels hovering around 300. Made it about 30k (planned route was about 60k) and called it quits. Blew black boogers for about an hour after and had a hacking cough. Day after fell victim to my first cold of the season. Screw that noise.

    #25551
    Avatar photoMr. Klink
    Participant

    After a lengthy discussion over a bowl of noodles, a new air quality rating system has been implemented:

    100 – 200: Grey

    200 – 300: Beige

    300 – 500: Sepia

    If conditions have gone ‘sepia tone’ all necessary health precautions must be taken.

    #25562
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster
    Quote:
    After a lengthy discussion over a bowl of noodles, a new air quality rating system has been implemented:

    100 – 200: Grey

    200 – 300: Beige

    300 – 500: Sepia

    I can see the brochures now: “We invite foreign friends to enjoy Chengdu’s romantic, sepia-tone landscape as you sip tea on the Minjiang river bank”

    #25581
    Avatar photo7
    Participant

    I just got back in town tonight and it seems noticeably than when I left before Christmas. I’m just glad I’m not in Beijing which hit 755 today! That’s got to be some kind of record.

    #25589
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    reported over 900 today in Chinese news 😀 (Beijing)

    #25590
    Avatar photoBrendan
    Moderator

    755 in Beijing!? WTF, that must be like breathing sand!!

    It’s been a rough week in Chengdu, consistently up in the 300’s. it’s really been shifting my perspective on remaining here longer term.

    Strangely this morning the official figures are riding higher than US Consulate numbers. I’m picturing the appointed ‘adjuster’ asleep at the computer. Pollution’s got them beat tired. 😀

    #25618
    Avatar photoBrendan
    Moderator
    Quote:
    reported over 900 today in Chinese news 😀 (Beijing)

    How is that even possible!!? Forget sand, that’s gotta be air soup!!

    #25626
    Avatar photoRick in China
    Participant

    It’s not just Beijing and Chengdu either….

    “However, the problem has now become a national phenomenon, rather than one unique to Beijing. On Saturday, levels of PM2.5 passed 300 micrograms per cubic meter in 33 of the 74 cities with systems equipped to monitor the particles.”

    http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90778/8090803.html

    It’s all over the news now, was watching some respiratory illness thing being filmed in Chengdu due to recent super-high levels of pollution, there has to be a major effort and soon or the people will get disturbed..

    #25627
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    As bad as the pollution is in China right now, I feel great about it being a topic that everyone is discussing, finally. For years it seemed like Chinese people had little awareness of, or interest in, the pollution in their cities.

    #25668
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster

    I just published a post on the pollution in Chengdu and tips for minimizing the effects: How to Handle Chengdu’s Pollution Like a Pro

    #25673
    Avatar photocharles
    Participant

    I guess i gotta check pm2.5 before i holla at night… jeez..

    #25677
    Avatar photoBrendan
    Moderator

    I caught the pollution count at 414 last night. We seem to have been edging up into the high 300’s and beyond over the last week, breaking 400 here and there.

    What the hell is going on lately!? Some solid data on this would be mighty interesting, and yet less likely than my winning a lottery without buying a ticket.

    #25679
    Avatar photoKim Duistermaat
    Participant

    I noticed that the government has now also added the 2.5 pm measurements, bringing their levels at par with the US consulate measurements.

    Yesterday and today were so bad that I could feel my eyes pricking while bicycling.

    We’re using totobobo masks on a daily basis. Yesterday I changed the filter and today, after about 1 hour of cycling in total, it is completely grey already…. We actually do not get a lot of ‘looks’, many people are wearing face covers anyway already.

    The Chengdu government should not only be serious about combatting pollution (where is all this coming from?), but also about promoting taking measures at home, at work and in schools. If they want to attract more business to this nice city, they will have to show that they take action. So, have all schools equipped with air purifiers, encourage large foreign investors to sponsor that and equip their own workplaces too, and help local businesses to do the same. I’m sure that the government could strike a nice deal with one of the better producers of these machines, providing them for a good price to its citizens. The same goes for providing cleaner systems for heating homes around Chengdu (and dump the coal and oil heaters), enforcing factories and car owners to have filters on their exhausts, etc.

    #25680
    Avatar photoCharlie
    Keymaster
    Quote:
    I noticed that the government has now also added the 2.5 pm measurements, bringing their levels at par with the US consulate measurements.

    I don’t think it’s quite at par, since the Chinese values are still lower than what the US Consulate reports. Also, the Chinese scale goes up to 500 while the US figures report higher values, although that so far hasn’t been an issue for Chengdu.

    To answer your question about where the pollution is coming from, I think it’s a combination of heavy industry, coal power plants, and massive construction inside the city. The geographic conditions of Chengdu are poor for clearing pollution since the humidity is high and we’re in a basin at sea level near gigantic mountains.

    Quote:
    So, have all schools equipped with air purifiers, encourage large foreign investors to sponsor that and equip their own workplaces too, and help local businesses to do the same.

    Unfortunately I think Chengdu is a long way from this, due to the economy of enforcing these measures on a city of 14 million people, the vast majority of which are not of great economic means. One day though, hopefully.

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