Air quality 'improves' in Beijing

Air quality in Beijing looks to be improving, with the city seeing 146 "blue sky days" during the first half of 2009.

According to news source Xinhuanet.com, this means that those living in the city have "breathed in the least amount of pollution in nine years".

Du Shaozhong of the Beijing municipal environmental protection bureau said Beijing has enjoyed 23 more days of blue sky this year than it did in 2008.

"Environmental protection experts attributed the improvement of air quality to the reduced emission of pollutants and the after effect of measures taken during the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games," the news source noted.

The city also experienced fewer sandstorms than it has in previous years, which may also have helped to boost air quality.

Meanwhile, Sky News reported earlier this week that researchers from Imperial College London plan to use cyclists and pedestrians as mobile pollution sensors.

Written by Claire Manning