Report Briefing
Dangerous Breathing 2:A study on the health effects of atmospheric PM2.5 in urban China At 2013 atmospheric PM2.5 concentration levels, the PM2.5 pollution‐related premature death rate in the 31 provincial capitals and province‐level cities came close to 0.1%. The PM2.5 pollution‐related premature death rate of 12 of these 31 cities was higher than 0.1%. These 12 cities were Shijiazhuang, Jinan, Changsha, Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan, Nanchang, Hefei, Tianjin, Harbin, Chongqing and Shenyang. One: Background China's rapid economic development, the acceleration of urbanization, and the continual growth in energy consumption and air pollution emissions have posed a severe challenge to the country’s air quality, particularly from fine particulate air pollution (PM2.5). Since 2011, the public’s top environmental concern has been the frequent smog smothering Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and the Yangtze River Delta. The 2013 Report on the State of the Environment in China reported that in the first batch of 74 cities that implemented Ambient Air Quality Standards (GB3095‐2012), 96% were not able to meet the national annual average PM2.5 standard (35 μg/m3) level two. The PM2.5 situation in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei was the most serious. The State Council released its Action Plan on Prevention and Control of Air
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