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First time I read it I interpreted it as a pun! (What color may an alert in a red country be?!) On a more serious note, I'm sorry to know that there are people
by restalis 11y ago
First time I read it I interpreted it as a pun! (What color may an alert in a red country be?!)
On a more serious note, I'm sorry to know that there are people forced to live day by day in a high pollution environment though. I hope that the period of health tribute being paid in the name of industrial development won't last too long!
- rahimnathwani 11y ago"I'm sorry to know that there are people forced to live day by day in a high pollution environment though." It's funny, for > 99.9% in Beijing, they have no reasonable way to escape, due to family ties, personal financial disruption from having to leave a job/career, etc. But there are many (not only foreigners) who could much more easily uproot and move to another city or another country. The thing is, you go on hoping it's going to get better over time, and pushing the decision further out, as 'another few months' of this pollution isn't going to make a serious health difference.
- rdlecler1 11y agoWhat I don't understand is that since Beijing is also the center of government, how is it that they are not showing more self interest and fix the situation. It's really a paradox.
- tacon 11y agoThe Chinese elite are showing plenty of self-interest. They have an entire infrastructure of purified air to breathe: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/world/asia/the-privileges-of-chinas-elite-include-purified-air.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/05/world/asia/the-privileges-...
- harryjo 11y agoThat's an amazing display of hypocrisy by government leaders who usually keep right control over PR. I'd be unsurprised yet impressed to learn that the company that makes air purifiers for the ruling class, and then publicly advertises that, was a CIA operation to foment a rebellion against the tyrannical government.
- im2w1l 11y agoI see it as completely unsurprising, and would be equally unsurprised to hear of this in a capitalist country. Is organic non-growth-hormone corn-syrup-free food that is too expensive for the poor a socialist plot?
- rgovind 11y agoIf China is anything like India, corrupt elite are interested in things like money and power rather than quality of life. long term health, etc. Most people want to live in an urban environment inspite of traffic problems. Its just the mindset. Pollution doesn't kill you overnight so they don;t really care.
- andrezsanchez 11y agoI'm studying abroad in Beijing right now, and my throat began to hurt even at lower levels of PM2.5 simply because I wasn't wearing a mask. I'm very surprised at the number of people who don't wear a mask; they either don't value their health or don't know how bad the air is because they've been accustomed to it.
- im2w1l 11y agoHow much does your mask help?
- andrezsanchez 11y agoThe package says it blocks >=90%, which is still horrible for my health, but thankfully I'm leaving in less than 2 months. It certainly feels better though.
- kruczek 11y agoOut of curiosity - what are typical levels of PM2.5 over there?
- tellarin 11y ago130 - 170 AQI is kind of typical. With <50 levels sprinkled throughout the year. A couple dozen days a year it gets really bad, worse than this current streak.
- andrezsanchez 11y agoI didn't even look at the levels when I came in September because everything looked fine, but lately it's varied a lot, between 100-350 the past few weeks.