In the News
March 30, 2018
China’s environment ministry has said the number of sources of pollution in the country has increased by more than half in less than a decade.
Releasing preliminary results of an ongoing “environmental census”, China’s ministry of ecology and environment said the number of sources of pollution in the country stands at about 9m, compared to 5.9m in its first census, in 2010.
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China has made some important gains. Michael Greenstone, director of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, analysed data from government air monitorscollected between 2013 and 2017, and found that many of China’s densest cities have recorded major declines in air pollution.
In Beijing, where several days of smog known as “the airpocalypse” of 2013 in part prompted China’s declaration of war, the concentration of fine particulates in the air fell 35%.
“By winning this war, China is due to see dramatic improvements in the overall health of its people, including longer lifespans, if these improvements are sustained,” Greenstone said in a statement.