According to a study published this Friday, air quality in China has deteriorated this year for the first time since the country launched its “war on pollution” campaign in 2013. This increase is explained by a “general increase in human-caused emissions”, coupled with “adverse weather conditions”.
China’s air quality has deteriorated this year for the first time since the country launched its “war on pollution” campaign in 2013, according to a study released Friday. “2023 marks the first year where the national average level of (fine particles) PM2.5 in China increases from one year to the next” since this date, notes this study from the independent institute Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).
An ineffective campaign
This increase is explained by a “general increase in emissions of human origin”, coupled with “unfavorable weather conditions”, underlines this organization based in Finland. The year 2023 was marked by the lifting of the drastic restrictions put in place by China after the outbreak of the Covid 2019 pandemic, which caused a sharp slowdown in activity. The country launched a “war on pollution” campaign in 2013, closing dozens of coal-fired power plants and moving heavy industry units, in order to fight against the smog which choked most of its large cities, particularly in winter.
This campaign has until now resulted in a continuous drop in PM2.5 recorded in the air, without however always meeting the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO). According to the WHO, prolonged exposure to excessive levels of PM2.5 can trigger strokes, heart disease, lung cancer and respiratory diseases.