Beijing hit by third sandstorm in five weeks
The third major sandstorm in five weeks turned Beijing’s skies sepia on Thursday, and sent air quality plummeting in the Chinese capital.
The storms, caused by winds from drought-hit Mongolia and north-western China, sent levels of the pollutant PM10, which can penetrate the lung, to 999 micrograms per cubic metre – a level almost double the “hazardous” stage indicated by the Beijing air pollution real time quality index.
The World Health Organization recommends that levels not exceed 20 micrograms per cubic metre in a 24 hour period, and states: “There is a close, quantitative relationship between exposure to high concentrations of small particulates (PM10 and PM2.5) and increased mortality or morbidity, both daily and over time.”
The sand particles originated from Mongolia and the Chinese region of
Inner Mongolia, and high winds are expected to carry the pollutants to central and eastern China by Friday, the China meteorological administration said.The amount of sand in the air was less than that during two sandstorms in northern China last month, but the wind speed was higher, allowing the dusty weather to travel faster and farther, according to the meteorological administration.“I don’t feel good. We have had several dust storms this year,” said Gary Zi, a 48year-old Beijing resident working in the finance sector.“The (air) quality is much worse than in previous years,” he added. “Breathing becomes difficult. Sand gets into your eyes and your nose.”
As the storm blew through Beijing, a team of forestry and meteorological government experts arrived in Inner Mongolia to conduct research into the sandstorms, the Global Times reported. Delegates from China’s arid Gansu region said in a proposal to parliament last month that over half of the dust storms that descend on China each year come from abroad, mainly from the south of Mongolia.Beijing has been planting millions of trees along its border to block out sandstorms, part of a project known as the “Great Green Wall”.
“I feel it is all climate change,” said another Beijing resident as he wiped the dust from his motorbike near the China World Trade Center, giving only his surname, Xie. “(We) can’t do much about it.”
Reuters contributed to this report
ciate Health Minister Dr Ayesha Verrall said on Thursday, announcing the changes. “About 4,500 New Zealanders die every year from tobacco, and we need to make accelerated progress to be able to reach that goal [of Smokefree 2025]. Business-as-usual without a tobacco control program won’t get us there.”
The proposals were welcomed by a number of public health organisations. “This proposal goes beyond assisting people to quit,” Cancer Society chief executive Lucy Elwood said in a statement. She noted that the number of tobacco retailers was four times higher in low-income communities, where smoking rates were highest.
“These glaring inequities are why we need to protect future generations from the harms of tobacco,” Elwood said. “Tobacco is the most harmful consumer product in history and needs to be phased out.”
Shane Kawenata Bradbrook, a longterm advocate for smoke-free Māori communities, said in a statement that the plan “will begin the final demise of tobacco products in this country”. Smoking rates are highest among Māori and Pasifika New Zealanders, and he said it was vital those communities had a voice in the process.
“For too long the tobacco industry has been addicting our people, fleecing them of their money before we have to bury them in urupa [burial grounds] all over this land. I am looking forward to truly making this a sunset industry in this corner of the world.”
El-Shadan Tautolo, a professor of public health at Auckland University of Technology, also called the plan “a turning point”. If it included enough resources and the right people, “we will be able to reach our communities who have been underserved and under-resourced for long enough,” he said.
But the plans also faced criticism for potential unintended consequences, including the prospect of bankruptcy for small ‘dairy’ store owners, and the possibility of an expanded black market for tobacco. The government acknowledged this was a risk in its document outlining proposals: “Evidence indicates that the amount of tobacco products being smuggled into New Zealand has increased substantially in recent years and organised criminal groups are involved in large-scale smuggling,” it said.
Right-wing political party ACT said lowering nicotine content could result in smokers buying and smoking more to get their hit. “New Zealand smokers who can least afford it will spend more on their habit and in turn do harm to those around them if the government mandates lower nicotine,” the ACT social development and children spokesperson, Karen Chhour, said in a press release.
The move also sparked questions about the extent to which the government should intervene in people’s lives: “There’s a philosophical principle about adults being able to make decisions for themselves, within reason,” journalist Alex Braae wrote in an analysis for the Spinoff.
Smoking accounts for one in four cancer deaths in New Zealand, and around half a million New Zealanders smoke daily. The effects of that are most-felt among Māori, New Zealand’s indigenous people: Māori women have the country’s highest smoking rates, with about 30% smoking daily. Cancer is the leading cause of death for Māori women and the second leading cause for Māori men.