Pollution up 16% in 39 cities in Northern China
Surging industrial activity is making it increasingly unlikely they will meet their winter emissions targets
Shanghai — Air pollution in 39 major northern Chinese cities rose 16% on the year in January, official data shows. And surging industrial activity is making it less likely they will meet winter emissions targets. Average concentrations of small, hazardous particles known as PM2.5 in two major northern Chinese emissions control zones climbed 16% from a year earlier to 114 micrograms per cubic metre, according to Reuters analysis of official pollution data. China has vowed not to ease up on fighting pollution even in its economic slump, but rising emissions of lung-harming smog in January suggest that some provinces could struggle to balance that goal with an upturn in industrial production. “The reasons for the increases in PM2.5 levels are not hard to identify,” said Lauri Myllyvirta, energy analyst with environmental group Greenpeace, who noted that steel, thermal power and cement production surged throughout the region in the final quarter of 2018. “The outsourcing of industrial o...
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