I Can’t Breathe In Beijing Anymore

A personal look at the air pollution problem in China

I genuinely could not comprehend the severity of the Chinese pollution situation until today. In the last two weeks in Beijing, the air contained 400+ micrograms of PM2.5 particulates per cubic meter. For context, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends breathing in air with less than 25 micrograms per cubic meter. Here in Beijing, the air is 16X beyond the maximum safety limit for healthy human breathing and more than 40X worse than the air quality in San Francisco.

Often, we see these numbers and find it difficult to visualize what it means in practice. Let me give a first-hand account. This means my 5th grade nephew grows up with pollution days rather than snow days. This means my colleagues check the air quality monitor each morning to determine whether or not they should risk the 20 minute commute to get to the office. This means virtually everyone I see on the street wears breathing masks and yet still suffers from visible respiratory distress. Since the minute I landed, I’ve come down with fevers, migraines, and ear infections. Pollution is a daily conversation subject among the citizenry here, and is a concrete factor in where to buy a home and where to raise kids.

This used to be something out of science fiction. But this is real today, and not just for Beijing. There are cities of millions all around the world suffocating in these conditions. These are man-made catastrophes that require man-made solutions. Let’s not let Beijing’s story become any other city’s story.

Originally published on December 17, 2015