China

BEIJING — Burning coal has the worst health impact of any source of air pollution in China and caused 366,000 premature deaths in 2013, Chinese and American researchers said on Thursday.

Coal is responsible for about 40 percent of the deadly fine particulate matter known as PM 2.5 in China’s atmosphere, according to a study the researchers released in Beijing.

Those figures are consistent with what Chinese scientists have been saying in recent years about industrial coal burning and its relation to air pollution.

While it is recognized that this tower cannot solve the choking smog of Beijing, it is still quite remarkable (pictured below).

The government passed a significant strengthening of its Environmental Protection Law (EPL) in 2014. The EPL indicates the serious commitment to governance and accountability. This was the first major revision of the EPL since 1989.

SHANGHAI/BEIJING -- The dark haze of pollution enveloping Beijing is not only a serious health hazard, it also disrupts daily life. "When pollution is really severe, schools close down and I have to ask for leave from work to take care of my 8-year-old daughter," said Zhang Caixia, a 34-year-old mother of two who lives in the Chinese capital. "It's affecting my life a lot."

China imposed stiffer punishments on companies that violated environmental laws last year, according to new research that illustrates Beijing’s growing resolve to push through aspects of a greener social agenda.

The research, conducted by financial index provider MSCI, recorded a near doubling in the cost of environmental penalties on selected companies in 2015 compared with the previous year and a near tripling in the likelihood that punitive action would be taken against offenders.

The study covered 155 Chinese companies that are constituents of the MSCI Emerging Markets Index.

China’s southern city of Shenzhen is planning to build three waste incineration power plants, including the one which will be the world’s largest in the next three years, the People’s Daily reported on Tuesday. According to Wang Guobin, director of Shenzhen City Urban Administrative and Law Enforcement Bureau, the biggest plant alone can handle one third of Shenzhen’s garbage and will be put into use in 2018. “The projects have got their Environmental Impact Assessment approval and finished the levelling construction. The main body construction will start by the end of this year,” said Wang.

Beijing (CNN) -- The view from Zou Yi's window is fickle. Some days he can see every detail of the Beijing Television skyscraper across the way. Some days he can hardly see it at all. Such is daily life for the millions who live under Beijing's polluted skies. What makes Zou unique is his steadfastness in documenting the city's air quality -- every day for three years. Each morning before going to work, Zou first takes a picture of the skyscraper from his thirteenth floor living room.

BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- The Ministry of Environmental Protection is pinning its hope on laws and regulations to ensure that projects are regulated by environmental impact assessments.

In a ministry statement released Wednesday, Vice Minister Pan Yue was quoted as saying that environmental impact assessment hasn't been adequately enforced, and in some cases, they do not happen at all. Even when the assessment is carried out, the results play hardly any role in evaluation and approval.

Air pollution in China is no laughing matter, but one campaign group hopes its bizarre new film will provoke both laughs and action among urban Chinese.

"Hairy Nose" depicts a bleak future where people have evolved lengthy nasal hair to filter out the smog.

It ends with a warning that if people don't change their ways, pollution will change them.
The charity, WildAid, told the BBC they wanted people to stop waiting for government action to fix the problem.