Japan hopes to work with China to clear the air

The Foreign Ministry said it plans to pursue the issue with China once its weeklong Lunar New Year holiday ends in mid-February. It is unclear if tensions with Beijing over a territorial dispute might interfere with that plan.

Many Japanese cities suffered from severe smog in earlier decades, during the country's industrial boom. But enforcement of fuel and clean air standards helped clear the skies, and pollution is much less severe than in most of China.

Publicly released data so far has shown no correlation between the recent peaks in levels of harmful particulates in China, which obscured skies in some cities last month and prompted authorities to warn residents to stay indoors when possible, and overall smog levels in Japan.

But Japanese media have carried numerous stories on the potential for the smog to spread given prevailing wind patterns.

Japanese pollution monitors have recorded elevated levels of contaminants in the past, especially during the spring dust storm season, when clouds of yellow silt from the Gobi desert have affected both Japan and South Korea. Japan has long worked with China on reducing acid rain resulting from pollution on the Asian mainland.

Last month, the U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported an hourly peak level of PM2.5 at 526 micrograms per cubic meter, or “beyond index,” or more than 20 times higher than World Health Organization safety levels over a 24-hour period.

In southern Japan's Fukuoka prefecture, on the island of Kyushu, extra monitors were set up last week to measure pollutants that might have spread from China. Readings there showed levels of PM2.5 — a secondary pollutant that forms in the air and is tiny enough to penetrate deep into the lungs — at about 50, above the local standard of 35.

SHARE CLOSE
Blogger		Google+
Live Journal		Plurk
Stumble Upon

Tweet

	PREVIOUS ARTICLE
	India executes man convicted over 2001 parliament attack

NEXT ARTICLE
Japan gov't suggests hotline with China may cool island spat

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email

Submit