air quality news stories on Newser

China's Air Quality Data Suspiciously Sunny

Mark Russell — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:39:44 CST

The Chinese government, under fire from its citizens about its unbelievably upbeat pollution reports , has started to release more detailed data about smog in Beijing, reports the AP . For the first time, Beijing's official weather website yesterday included readings about PM2.5, or particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers...

Cynical Chinese Taking Own Smog Readings

Mary Papenfuss — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 02:00:00 CST

The Chinese know smog when they see it—even when the government calls it "fog." So Beijing citizens are taking their own pollution readings. "If people know what their air is like, they are more likely to take action," said a researcher at an environmental group that is showing residents...

Obama Dumps New Smog Rules

Kevin Spak — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 11:28:05 CDT

Barack Obama handed the business community a surprise win today by asking the Environmental Protection Agency to scrap new smog standards that would force state and local government to improve air quality or risk losing federal funds, the Washington Post reports. "Work is already underway to update … the ozone...

Arizona Warns of Air Quality as Wildfire Spreads

Sat, 11 Jun 2011 17:11:30 CDT

An eye-stinging, throat-burning haze of smoke spewing from a gigantic wildfire in eastern Arizona is beginning to stretch as far east as central New Mexico, prompting health officials to warn residents as far away as Albuquerque about potential respiratory hazards. The 672-square-mile blaze was no longer just an Arizona problem...

Huge Sandstorm Turns Beijing Sky Orange

Sat, 20 Mar 2010 06:01:32 CDT

China's capital woke up to orange-tinted skies today as the strongest sandstorm so far this year hit the country's north, delaying some flights at Beijing's airport and prompting a dust warning for Seoul. The sky glowed and a thin dusting of sand covered Beijing, causing workers to muffle their faces...

Red Dust Blankets Sydney

Will McCahill — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:36:48 CDT

Red dust blowing in from the Australian Outback covered Sydney today, snarling air travel and forcing locals to don masks to venture outdoors. “It’s like a nuclear winter morning,” one visitor told Bloomberg; the state government called air quality “hazardous.” Visibility was under 50 feet in some areas of the...

IOC, BBC Spar Over Beijing Air

Dustin Lushing — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 13:50:00 CDT

The International Olympic Committee says there is nothing wrong with the air in Beijing and praised China's "extraordinary" efforts to clean up pollution ahead of the Games' kick-off tomorrow. But the BBC disagrees, reporting its own analysis that shows Beijing's air pollution at nearly four times World Health Organization standards.

Bejing's Clean-Air Blitz Falls Short

Sam Biddle — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:49:32 CDT

The Chinese government’s goal of dispersing the thick smog around Beijing is not working, Wired reports after analyzing independent data. Efforts including factory shutdowns, car bans, and cloud seeding have not improved air quality, with pollution levels still far above the World Health Organization’s standards on most days. Heavy rain...

Beijing Becomes Obsessed With Rain

Kevin Spak — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 13:33:00 CDT

Talking about the weather isn’t just idle conversation in Beijing these days—it’s a national obsession, the Washington Post reports. The country is so anxious for a sunny Olympics—with just enough rain to clear the smog, of course—that changes in the forecast have become front-page news. Monday even...