Photo: Wiktor Dabkowski | AP
Beijing was once known as one of the world's most polluted cities, with dense smog and acrid air a daily reality for residents. Now, its skies are mostly blue a sign the Chinese national capital is entering a new era of clean air, the country's Minister of Ecology and Environment claimed recently. The 'Beijing' Blue has gradually become the new normal, said Huang Runqiu, the minister, as the city recorded its best monthly air quality since records began in 2013. The turnaround in Beijing's air quality illustrates how successful the country's anti-pollution campaign has been since it began in 2013 the year of Beijing's air-pocalypse, when smog got so bad that levels of PM2.5, a microscopic pollutant, reached 900 micrograms per square meter. Public protests of pollution levels may have spurred Chinese leader Xi Jinping's government to declare a war against pollution, and seek to find a better balance between economic growth and concern for the environment.
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