CAIRO: Chinese officials have gathered and posted updated information about China's air quality on the Internet, but whether or not this data is to be reliable is yet to be seen. The Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center posted the figures in response to repeated calls from the public for better information about what exactly is in Beijing's smog-filled air. The new readings are for PM2.5 – particles that measure 2.5 micrometers or less, smaller even than the average width of a single human hair. But despite their tiny size, scientists assert that the particles are among the most dangerous because they are easily lodged in the lungs when breathed in. Saturday's initial reading, taken from a single monitoring station in the capital, registered between 0.003 and 0.062 micrograms per cubic meter, classifying the air quality as good. And yet the readings seem suspicious to some environmental experts. Consultant Steven Andrews, who has studied Beijing's pollution data since 2006, told the Associated Press that a similar monitor placed at the U.S. embassy in Beijing registered such low levels of pollution only 18 times in the past two years. Measurements taken at the U.S. embassy in December showed dangerously high levels of air pollution, so bad that traffic had been disrupted and flights had been delayed or cancelled. NASA has published an image of the pollution haze taking all over the North China Plain, which is so bad it can be seen taking over thousands of square miles from space. According to NASA's Earth Observatory, the haze is mostly made of two kinds of particles, PM10 and PM2.5. The number refers to their size: 10 micrometers and 2.5 micrometers. They are made of “dust, liquid drops, and soot from burning fuel or coal.” Most of the pollution is made of PM2.5, which can cause cancer and extreme respiratory problems. Earlier this week, the embassy classified Beijing's air quality as hazardous after it found the level of PM2.5 exceeded its monitor's maximum reading of 500 micrograms per cubic meter. Chinese officials say they intend to install additional air quality monitors around the city. Until now, officials had based their air pollution readings on the prevalence of particles that measures at least 10 micrometers, ignoring the smaller but more dangerous pollutants. BM ShortURL: http://goo.gl/ztgEw Tags: Pollution Section: Asia, Environment, Going Green, Latest News
