China News recently reported that China’s Ministry of Ecology and Environment just released its 2018-2019 Fall and Winter Air Quality Improvement Report. The report indicated that, on a year-over-year basis, 28 cities in Northern China saw a PM2.5 pollution increase rather than a decrease after intensive air pollution control and remediation activities. These cities include Beijing and many cities near Beijing. The Report explained that, in addition to certain natural causes, it has been harder to apply environmental protection controls and, over time, the cities have again become undisciplined. The Report is part of the assessment process of the Three-Year Combat Plan for Protecting the Blue Sky. The initiative was designed to improve air quality in multiple major regions. While the Eastern region achieved an 8.3 percent improvement, the Northern regions suffered a 6.5 percent decline in quality. Statistics on both the average pollution level and the number of heavy pollution days showed the situation deteriorated. Local governments’ relaxed administrative and monitoring strength was identified as the key issue.
Source: China News, May 1, 2019
http://chinanews.sina.com/gb/chnmedia/sinacn/2019-05-01/doc-ifzhxuxa7524553.shtml