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November 9th, 2015:

Smog soars in Chinese city to over 40 times safe limits as winter central heating turned on

Nov 9th, 2015
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Air quality reached extremely hazardous levels in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang as northern China began to burn coal to heat homes for winter.

Real-time data released by the Shenyang Environmental Protection Agency on Sunday showed the density of the poisonous tiny airborne matters known as PM2.5 was more than 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre. Nearby cities also reported very high levels of the harmful particulates.

The World Health Organisation considers the safe level of PM 2.5 to be 25 micrograms per cubic meter on a 24-hour average basis.

The readings from Shenyang are possibly the highest pollution levels ever recorded in China since the country began to monitor air quality and release real-time data in 2013.

The local authorities said the density of PM 2.5, considered extremely harmful to human health, peaked on Sunday afternoon at more than 1,200 micrograms per cubic metre.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that the reading had reached as high as 1,400 micrograms per cubic meter at some monitoring sites.

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The local authorities issued the highest alert, warning residents to stay indoors and demanding that factories cut output to reduce pollution.

Photographs posted on social media showed grey skies and members of the public complained of sore throats.

Northern China typically burns coal to heat homes in the winter, a practice believed to have fouled the air.

Emissions from industrial plants and the increasing use of cars also are major causes of air pollution in China.

Source URL: http://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/1876952/smog-soars-chinese-city-over-40-times-safe-limits-winter-central

Rising sea levels set to displace 45 million people

Nov 9th, 2015
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Rising sea levels set to displace 45 million people in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tianjin if earth warms 4 degrees from climate change

Rising sea levels will swallow up land if nothing is done to stop it, study by US-based group says

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Some 45 million people in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tianjin will be displaced as the cities slip under the waves when global temperatures rise 4 degrees Celsius if nothing is done to curb climate change, according to a study released on Monday.

The displaced population could be cut to 23.4 million if an upcoming climate summit limited global warming to 2 degrees, scientists at the US-based group Climate Central said.

Under the 4-degree scenario, China would be the country most affected, with Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tianjin among its cities hardest hit. Globally, land occupied by more than 600 million people would be submerged.

A 2-degree rise in temperatures would affect areas with some 280 million people globally.

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“Warming of 2 degrees Celsius will pose a long-term existential danger to many great coastal cities and regions,” said lead author Ben Strauss, vice-president for sea level and climate impacts at Climate Central.

Sea level rises corresponding to the 2-degrees and 4-degrees scenarios – at 4.7 metres and 8.9 metres respectively – could unfold in 200 years, but would more likely occur over many centuries, perhaps as long as 2,000 years, according to the research.

While the 2-degree scenario was also grim, limiting warming to that extent would spare China and other nations of more misery, said Strauss. “There is a world of difference between 2 degrees and 4 degrees, which threatens more than double the damage. We have a very large choice ahead of us,” he said.

Capping the temperature rise to 2 degrees above pre-industrial levels by cutting greenhouse gas emissions is the core goal of the upcoming, 195-nation UN climate summit. The talks will be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11.

There is a world of difference between 2 degrees and 4 degrees, which threatens more than double the damage. We have a very large choice ahead of us

Ben Strauss, vice-president for sea level and climate impacts at Climate Central

More than 140 countries have filed their national plans to tackle climate change, and their collective efforts could limit the global temperature increase to 2.7 degrees by 2100, according to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

The Climate Central study found that 145 million people were living in Chinese cities and coastal areas that would become submerged if global temperatures rose by 4 degrees.

Limiting the warming at 2 degrees would spare some 81 million people across China, according to the report.

Asia is home to 75 per cent of populations that today reside within zones that would no longer be classified as land in a climate-altered future.

Some 34 million people in Japan, 25 million in the US, 20 million in the Philippines, 19 million in Egypt and 16 million in Brazil also presently live on land that will become sea if the earth warms by 4 degrees.

Source URL: http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/1877284/rising-sea-levels-set-displace-45-million-people