En－greenpeace ranks 360 chinese cities by pm2 5 air pollution (q1 2015) (1)

Greenpeace Ranks 360 Chinese Cities by PM2.5 Air Pollution (Q1 2015) With the number of Chinese cities practicing the Ambient Air Quality Standard (GB3095-2012) increasing to 367 in 2015, the quantity of city-level air quality data available to the Chinese public now is unprecedented. The Ambient Air Quality Standard mandates regular monitoring of 6 air pollutants, including PM2.5 concentration. Greenpeace has ranked 360 cities offering valid air pollution data in Q1 2015, by analyzing their PM2.5 concentration. We have discovered the following highlights:  PM2.5 pollution remains severe in 2015. In Q1 2015, the average PM2.5 concentration in 360 Chinese cities reached 66 μg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter), almost doubling the national Grade II air quality standard (35μg/m3).  More than 90% of all 360 cities failed to meet the national air quality standard in Q1 2015. Q1 PM2.5 concentration levels were up to standard in only 32 cities, while 141, or nearly 40%, of the cities recorded quarterly average PM2.5 concentrations more than twice the national standard.  The unprecedentedly extensive disclosure of PM2.5 pollution data also reveals severity of the air pollution problem in China’s central and western regions. The provinces of Henan, Hubei, Hunan and Sichuan, all located in either Central or Western China, were among the 10 worst polluted provinces in Q1 2015 by PM2.5 concentrations. In particular, with quarterly PM2.5 concentrations of 103.3 μg/m3 and 99.2 μg/m3, the Provinces of Henan and Hubei have already surpassed Hebei Province which is notorious for its bad air quality.  Centers of economic activities, such as the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area, Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, are still facing severe PM2.5 pollution. Q1 PM2.5 concentrations in these three areas reached 96.9 μg/m3, 69.4 μg/m3 and 47.6 μg/m3 respectively. On closer inspection, the provinces that recorded the worst Q1 PM 2.5 pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Area and Yangtze River Delta are Hebei Province and Jiangsu Province respectively. Q1 PM2.5 concentrations came to 98.4 μg/m3 in Hebei and 76.7 μg/m3 in Jiangsu, outnumbering levels in their neighboring provinces by a large margin. How we created this ranking: In order to reflect PM2.5 pollution situations in Chinese cities in a comprehensive and objective fashion, Greenpeace took official data published by the Ministry of Environmental Protection. We obtained all the hourlyPM2.5 concentrations recorded by every single state-controlled monitoring station in 367 cities. Subsequently, we calculated the arithmetic means of all the data recorded in Q1 by each city to obtain the city-level Q1 average PM2.5 concentrations. We then calculated the arithmetic means of quarterly concentrations of all the prefecture-level cities with state-controlled air quality monitoring stations in each province to obtain the provincial Q1 PM2.5 concentrations. It is worth noting that we excluded seven cities from this ranking due to substantial flaws in their air quality data.

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