To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II under a crystal blue sky, Chinese authorities put restrictions on factory production and car use on August 20. 12,255 coal burning boilers, factories and cement mixing-stations were suspended from operating and 40,000 construction sites were halted. Five million cars were forced to drive on alternate days.
The 15-day ban worked. On the day of the parade, the city’s air quality index clocked in at a healthy 17 out of 500. The very next day, the smog returned and the air quality index hit 160 out of 500. The crystal blue skies that graced the city for two weeks were replaced by grey smoggy clouds.
(The photo above shows two images – one of a blue sky day from a week before the military parade and one of a hazy sky the day after the parade)
For the ones wondering, yes it is the same city! Eventually people living in Beijing have been able to see the blue sky…
Posted by GREENWILL on Monday, September 14, 2015
Many Internet users expressed their frustration with the authorities for cleaning up the city’s skies only for major international events.
Beijing gets blue sky for Olympics, APEC & WW2 anniversaries, but will it also get it for you and me? http://t.co/sWs8VAb2j0 #Airpocalypse
— Chris Rayn (@inspirits) September 7, 2015
http://t.co/sd9ve6JrL3 this ‘drastic’ action should be everyday action! why #paradeblue and not live blue? #pollution #enviroment #china — Maria Zygouropoulou (@maria_zyg) September 5, 2015
Do you enjoy blue skies? Be glad you don’t live in Beijing. http://t.co/2KNJObGmRN They only get it for important events. #paradeblue
— Wendy (@laxietoo) September 4, 2015
Now find a way to do it everyday, not just 4 a military parade. Blue sky vanishes after Beijing’s big parade. http://t.co/NSS8kobiRO — Eduardo Balarezo (@ed_balarezo) September 4, 2015
Wow! #China knows the consequences of pollution but they just don’t care http://t.co/lReAxVk6DM #climateaction #climatechange #globalwarming
— Raja Krish (@TheRajaKrish) September 4, 2015
That’s crazy, China’s air is so polluted that they got excited about seeing a ‘blue sky’ — Tiger Woods (@DrueMoore) September 4, 2015
This Article (Smoggy Grey Clouds Cover Beijing After 15 Days Of Crystal Blue Skyline) is free and open source. You have permission to republish this article under a Creative Commons license with attribution to the author and AnonHQ.com.
