Shanghai - Chinese air pollution rose in
April for the first time since December, official data showed on
Monday, with analysts attributing the rebound to the resumption
of economic activity following the coronavirus outbreak.
The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) said
concentrations of hazardous airborne particles known as PM2.5
rose 3.1 percent in April to an average of 33 micrograms per cubic
metre in 337 cities across the country, the first year-on-year
increase since December when PM2.5 rose by 10 percent.
Concentrations of ground-level ozone, sulphur dioxide and
nitrogen dioxide also rose over the month, the official data
showed.
The worst performing cities in April were Changchun, Harbin
and Shenyang, the capitals of the three northeastern provinces,
the data showed.
In contrast, in the smog-prone region of
Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei PM2.5 fell by a quarter to 39 micrograms
in April, even though factories had reopened. PM2.5 dropped by
35.4 percent in that region the first four months of the year, the data
showed.
Liu Bingjiang, an official in charge of air pollution at the
MEE, said last week that the resumption of industrial activity
could cause pollution to rise by a certain amount but it wasn't
the primary cause of a spike in April.
He said straw burning in the three northeastern provinces of
Jilin, Heilongjiang and Liaoning had increased by eight times
compared with the same period of last year, and sandstorms had
also caused air quality to deteriorate in some regions.
Average PM2.5 fell 12.5 percent in the 337 cities over the first
four months, with lockdowns, factory closures and transport
restrictions leading to a steep decline in emissions, mostly in
February and March.
"Air pollutant levels plummeted during the national lockdown
in February, bottomed out in early March and have now overshot
their pre-crisis levels," the Helsinki-based Centre for Research
on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) said in a report published on
Monday.
"Rebounding air pollutant levels are a demonstration of the
importance of prioritising green economy and clean energy in the
recovery from the Covid-19 crisis," it added.
Now that the economy has reopened there is a risk that
China, by aiming for a fast economic rebound, will further
damage the environment, CREA said.
"Due to emphasis on GDP targets and on construction and
manufacturing projects to hit those targets, China's recoveries
have tended to be 'dirty', with negative economic shocks
followed by surges in fossil fuel consumption, air pollution and
CO2 emissions," it said.
The most obvious recent example was a 2008 stimulus package
that ushered in an unprecedented wave of construction projects
and record levels of coal, cement and steel consumption, CREA
said.