Nine Chinese Cities Outpaced Beijing in Air Pollution in 2013, Report Says

China’s air pollution problems are more severe and widespread than previously thought, with nine cities experiencing more days of extreme air pollution than Beijing in 2013, according to a new analysis by Greenpeace’s Energy Desk. Fine particulate (PM2.5) pollution plagued dozens of cities and millions of people in China — most of them outside of Beijing, although the Chinese capital captured the most air pollution headlines last year. The city of Xingtai, southwest of the capital, fared worst, with 129 days of emergency air pollution — more than doubling Beijing’s 60 days. More than half of the cities in the top 10 are in Hebei province south of Beijing, where many steel, cement, and coal-fired power plants are located. “There are now millions of Chinese people living in cities with air pollution above emergency levels for a third of the year, while other urban areas have gone a whole 12-month period with hardly any days of good-quality air,” said a member of Greenpeace’s East Asia climate and energy campaign. Beijing had only 13 days ranked as “good” on the U.S. air quality scale, along with one day considered “beyond index,” or off the pollution scale.