Too many polluting cars.
Beijing, like any other city, has many polluting buildings, factories, cars, airports etc. If you are asking about the 20 million that woke up thursday with pounding headaches because of the smog, that was a result of the cold months in China. This is when coal power plants and increased car usage pollute the air more than usual. On top of that, right now, the air is not moving; so it could be weeks before the smog is gone
They got too many cars too quickly without putting pollution controls into place. They are making the same mistakes the US and Europe made 50 years ago, with more and more cars (and factories too) putting out air pollution. But they are doing it a lot faster. We can only hope they will enact strict pollution control laws faster too.
Those in power manage to avoid the smog, and the regular public cannot complain, or if they do complain will get thrown into prison camps. So nothing is done to reduce the smog.
Their industry is doing that. Pittsburgh, for example, used to be that way. Our politics has chased all the Pittsburgh industry over there. Now we are borrowing money from China. Does that tell you something?
Let us face it, there is no such thing as pollution free industry.
Because of few regulations on emissions.
It's mainly sulphur from producing a lot of steel and plastic.
Different form of population control .
The polar vortex...
Compared to the rest of the world Beijing is always in the news for being so polluted and putting it's citizens in danger. Why is it so bad there?
