Beijing Bars Fireworks for Lunar New Year to Curb Pollution
Gripped by a toxic smog pollution which doesn't seem to abate, Beijing will be barring fireworks on heavily polluted days in the lead up to the Spring Festival holiday on Sunday as part of a package of measures aimed at dealing with air pollution in the capital.
This as a recent research by the Chinese Academy of Sciences found that the air in Beijing's urban areas has a total of 4,000 tonnes of pollutants during heavily polluted days.
Kang Jiyong, the secretary-general of the Beijing Fireworks Association, according to the Beijing News on Monday, said the municipal government of Beijing is heavily mulling to ban the staging of fireworks display in order not to further exacerbate the toxic smog pollution that continues to grip China's capital.
"When there is heavy pollution, perhaps they'll prohibit the setting-off of fireworks," Kang told the newspaper.
The mulled ban would be dependent on prevailing on weather conditions, Kang explained.
If it's already foggy and wind is not present, the planned ban could be implemented because fireworks residue can sit in the air for a long time, thus contributing further to the pollution and aggravating the problem.
Wang Yuesi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had calculated the concentration of pollutants that hit the capital and found that the air in the urban areas has a total of 4,000 tonnes of pollutants during heavily polluted days.
Of China's many towns and regions, it was Beijing and its neighboring areas that were the hardest hit by the toxic smog pollution in January which according to National Meteorological Center was the worst the country experienced since 1961.
It was reported that the concentration of PM 2.5 shot to as high as 1,000 micrograms on serious pollution days in January in parts of Beijing.
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