Black smog over Mongolian provincial capitals

Arvayheer (capital of Övörhangay province) and 

Bayanhongor city (capital of Bayanhongor province) below.

Mongolia, February 2016.

The driver, the car owner, and a polluting engine

This morning I had to bring our suit cases and other stuff down to my car as it was time to leave our AirB&B apartment in One Rockwell, Manila. What I saw was just one of these normal daily procedures…

A noisy motor bike entered the basement parking and stopped in front of a van. The bike driver opened the car, started the car’s engine and left with his bike to get it parked nearby. This is normal procedure as a driver never knows when the car owner, here called the boss, wants to be picked up. If it is too hot inside a car the boss will not be happy. Therefore, this procedure.

After 20 minutes, as I came back to bring more stuff to our car, the driver was at least close to the car but the engine still running.

Like in all more up-scale buildings there is an armada of guards but nobody cares about regulations. Leaving a car engine running without anybody in side is prohibited and leaving an engine running while waiting in a basement parking is also prohibited. More important is personal comfort and what the boss wants as the later pays the salary. That a car pollutes and disturbs others is way beyond imagination.

Manila, December 2015.

Not a fresh start into the new year for Beijing

The chart is self-explanatory. For the full story see Bloomberg article from 31 January 2013.

Beijing’s air, which has exceeded the World Health Organization’s “healthy” limit every day this year, is similar to that in an airport smoking lounge.

Source of "Beijing smokes": Bloomberg. 

Beijing's landmark building in crazy bad smog

Another day where the Beijing smog level was 'beyond scale'. Originally the scale of PM2.5 particicle measurement ends at 500. The scale goes as follows (based on what the US embassy installed on its premises here in Beijing):

The scale and thresholds are based on the U.S. EPA standards at airnow.gov

Good	0-50
Moderate	51-100
Unhealthy for Sensitive Groups	101-150
Unhealthy	151-200
Very Unhealthy	201-300
Hazardous	>300

'Hazardous' is described as 'Health warnings of emergency conditions. The entire population is more likely to be affected'. We had 517 this morning labed "crazy bad." Given the fact that we had more than 900 two weeks back we may consider this Beijing day "lovely".

Beijing, 29 January 2013.

Pollution in Beijing

Most taxi drivers call it fog but it lasts for weeks.

Above, before the rain and below, after the rain.

Beijing, June 2011.

Smog over Kowloon

Hongkong, May 2010.

Cleaning Beijing

Tough job to clean heavily polluted Beijing.

Beijing, April 2010.

Grey view onto Beijing

Beijing, April 2010.