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THE WITNESS
Zhong Yu, a marathon runner, is one of the volunteers who had her personal air pollution exposure tested. She was shocked to find out that her samples contained arsenic levels exceeding the national standard X-fold
You have seen air pollution before, but not in this way. Beijing’s hazardous air is changing the energy outlook of the country, and sending a warning to other countries on the human cost of heavy reliance on coal. Continue reading
Originally posted to Think Progress
China’s air pollution crisis is more evident than ever. A new research report, conducted under the World Health Organization’s Global Burden of Disease project, shows that over 1.2 million premature deaths were caused by PM2.5 pollution (fine particles like soot, mostly resulting from fossil fuel combustion). That accounts for 15 percent of the total deaths in China during 2010 and 40 percent of global air pollution-related deaths. The data also showed that Chinese people’s average exposure to PM2.5 increased 50 percent from 1990 to 2010, compared to 10 percent globally. Continue reading
A plant with five dyeing machines will need about 250kg of dye, along with other additives.
We live on a wet planet, and without that water we would not be able to survive. But in places like China where I live, industries such as textile facilities are pumping a nasty cocktail of toxic chemicals into our water – you only need to see the photos below to get an idea of just how critical the situation is. Continue reading
Wind turbines in Zhong Guanghe Wind Farm in China.
Originally posted by Think Progress
Amid all the news about coal and pollution problems in China you might have missed this one: According to new statistics from the China Electricity Council, China’s wind power production actually increased more than coal power production for the first time ever in 2012. Continue reading
It’s hard to imagine living in a place where the air is so dirty, going outside to breathe could be the most dangerous thing you do all day. It’s even harder to imagine those conditions in a major metropolitan city. However, that is the reality in Beijing at the start of 2013. Earlier this year, the city’s smog hit record levels, with dangerous fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 reaching 886 micrograms per cubic meter – more than double the US EPA’s highest grading of “hazardous.” Continue reading
Blogpost by Monica Tan, Greenpeace East Asia
Drinking tea is an essential and much cherished part of Chinese culture. It’s the pride of the nation, so to speak, and this tea is exported to around the globe. But is China’s tea actually safe to drink?
A few months ago we bought 18 tea products at random from nine tea companies in China, and after sending the samples to be tested discovered that a whopping 12 of the 18 samples contained at least one pesticide banned for use on tea. Pesticides like methomyl and endosulfan, the latter of which has been banned globally under the Stockholm Convention due to its toxic properties.