NASA has noted a drop in air pollution in China's Hubei province, where the coronavirus outbreak first popped up. Photo:Stringer/Getty Images
China’s Environmental Wellbeing During Coronavirus Lockdown
By Patryk Krych | The World Daily | MAY 16th 2020
The COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak has caused a severe slowdown to the majority of worldwide industries, travel, and general business. As such, it’s entirely conceivable that the change would have noticeable effects on environment. Namely in China, where industry plays a large part in everyday life.
According to the head of the air pollution office at the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, Liu Bingjiang, the changes have been significant. He notes that the number of “blue sky days” had seen a sudden and sharp rise by 6.6% in the early quarter of 2020. He also stated that the target between the 2016-2020 period had been a lot smaller – 3.3%.
With China’s Huaibei province as the epicentre of the COVID-19 coronavirus’ spread, the country had struggled for a long while with containing and taming the disease.
“That was a level we didn’t even dare imagine,” Bingjiang added, regarding the “blue sky days”. The changes to the skies over China have been described as “incomprehensible”, shining some light on the otherwise disastrous outbreak that has already taken well over 308,000 lives.
Since March time, China had loosened the restrictions put on free movement and quarantine conditions somewhat, allowing for gradual economic resumption. Bingjiang said that thus far, this hasn’t led to any noticeable changes in the air quality progress. He attributed this success to China’s clampdown on anti-pollution efforts since 2014.
In the first quarter of the year, there was a 15% fall of poisonous smog particles in over 300 Chinese cities, as a further cause of lockdown restrictions and a much higher number of people choosing to stay at home in the time of uncertainty and crisis. At the same time, Shanghai’s emission rates went down by 20%, while the emission rates in Beijing stood still, as the accumulated data on the situation had shown.
With the country’s 2014 declaration of “war” against pollution, they had set themselves yearly targets that are to be followed by each city. These are typically set during the October-March Winter heating period where there’s room for evaluation and deciding what targets are realistically achievable.
While the lockdown situation, forced by the spread of the virus, had assisted in slowing down emission rates and doing major good for the country’s quest against pollution, the economic deprivation that it initiated cannot be ignored. According to Bingjiang, It is predicted that the economic fallout will make it next to impossible for new emission-lowering targets to be met in the following year, while the country is likely to re-prioritise economic stability and business configuration over the elimination of pollution.
However, he did state that China will most definitely continue to promote the abolishment of the use of coal in the majority of its industry, in hopes of replacing it with more environmentally friendly means of electricity production.
Smog is one of China’s greatest threats, one that they’ve been fighting to try and conquer for years now, since it’d become prominent enough to raise concerns and cause an increase in lung and ventilatory illnesses. It was further state that China also fully intends to go through with its anti-smog strategy in an attempt to better the air and make it less hazardous to live in.
By Patryk Krych | © The World Daily 2020
