Google Smog Map Reveals Extent of Chinese Pollution

A team of researchers from universities in China and the USA have worked together with Google Maps to create a real-time overview of the extent of air pollution across China. The map, available for viewing on the Berkeley University website, compiles data that has only recently become available and that was taken from more than 1,500 sites around China.

It is a joint venture by scientists at the Californian university at whose website it can be viewed and their colleagues at Nanjing University in China. Its main purpose is to shed some light on the extent of the problem which engulfs the Asian super-country and which plays a part in the deaths of around 4,000 individuals on a daily basis.

The Method

The findings were based upon information collected by air sensors at 1,500 different locations around China, offering the most comprehensive overview of its chronic pollution problem to date. All data was collected between April 2014 and August 2014 and measured levels of PM_2.5, PM₁₀ and O₃ for different regions around the country. It comprises just one of the latest steps in a new era in air quality monitoring in China.

Long hailed as the country with the poorest quality air on the planet, the Chinese have made strides in recent years to try and address their sub-standard reputation. In fact, it’s believed that the problem is so serious that it not only affects the country itself, but also has a knock-on impact on pollution management on the west coast of the USA.

With this in mind, the Chinese government implemented a 12^th five-year plan in 2013, laying out comprehensive guidelines on emission limits, air pollution control (APC) equipment and a greater crackdown on industry, metallurgy and the cement industry. This latest collaboration with Google is just the most recent step in its attempts to address its serious problem with air quality.

The Results

The findings revealed by the map are not encouraging. In the five months for which the study ran, a whopping 92% of the Chinese population were said to be exposed to dangerously polluted air for over 120 hours. Even more concerning is the news that as many as 38% inhaled a quality of air that was on average deemed to be unhealthy.

Such pollution is estimated to have at least contributed to 17% of all fatalities in the country – a staggering 1.6 million deaths per annum. Particulate matter (PM_2.5) is believed to be the most damaging component of polluted air and is clearly shown by the map to be prevalent not just in cities, but in more rural areas, as well.

“Under typical conditions, PM_2.5 is the most damaging form of air pollution, contributing to heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, respiratory infections, and other diseases,” explained the chief authors of the study, Richard Muller and Robert Rohde, in the journal Plos One.