China Battles Worst Air Pollution of the Year

中国应对今年最严重空气污染

China suffered its worst air pollution of the year recently.

中国最近经历了今年最为严重的空气污染。

More than 70 Chinese cities released warnings to citizens in the last few days about pollution reaching dangerous levels.

过去几天中国有70多个城市向市民发布了关于污染达到危险水平的警告。

The poor air quality led the government to order factories, some power plants and schools to close. But there were reports that some local officials were not obeying the orders.

空气质量差促使政府下令工厂和发电厂停工，学校停课。但是有报道说，一些地方官员并未遵守命令。

In one city in northern Hebei province, people wrote on social media that schools were kept open although the area had the highest pollution threat. Media reports in the central province of Henan also showed pictures of students completing school activities in the dirty open air.

在河北省某市，人们在社交媒体上写道，虽然该地区污染最为严重，但是学校仍未停课。中部省份河南省的媒体报道也发布了学生们在肮脏的露天环境中进行课外活动的照片。

State-run news agency Xinhua reported that an official in Henan province said factory production was continuing. The official said up to 4,000 factories had not stopped or limited production as ordered by the government. Records of power use at the factories showed little change in the amount of production.

据新华社报道，河南省的一位官员表示，工厂生产仍在继续。该官员表示，有高达4千家工厂并未遵守政府停止或限制生产的命令。工厂用电记录表明产量变化不大。

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a statement Monday that only "a small number of businesses" had not taken the bans seriously and continued operations.

中国环保部周一发表声明称，只有少数企业没有严格执行禁令仍在继续生产。

Driving restrictions were also put in effect and hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled in Beijing because of poor visibility.

车辆限行也已实施。由于能见度差，北京有数百家航班延误或取消。

The ministry said more than 100,000 drivers in Beijing had been fined for violating the traffic bans.

环保部表示，北京有10万多名司机因违反交通禁令被罚。

The World Health Organization measures air quality by the amount of small, particles in it, known as PM2.5. Small particles of this size are easily breathed in and can damage the lungs.

世卫组织通过PM2.5，也就是空气中包含的微小颗粒物数量来判断空气质量。这种规格的微小颗粒物容易被吸入，并可能损害肺部。

The WHO identifies a safe level of air quality as containing 10-25 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5. Beijing reached dangerous levels of more than 400 micrograms per cubic meter this week.

世卫组织定义空气质量的安全水平为PM2.5含量是10-25微克每立方米。本周北京的PM2.5含量达到了400微克每立方米的危险水平。

Weather officials were predicting that nighttime winds could finally push out much of the pollution from Beijing and other cities by Thursday.

天气官员预测到周四，夜间的风最终会将大部分污染物从北京和其它城市吹走。

Ma Yongliang is a professor with Tsinghua University's school of environment. He said temporary government restrictions will not solve the nation's pollution problems over a long period of time.

马永亮是清华大学环境学院的教授。他说，政府临时限制不能长期解决中国的污染问题。

"In the long run, the pollution problem can only be eased by adjusting the country's industrial structure, or accelerating the upgrading of [polluting] industries, so as to cut down the emission sources of pollutants," Ma said.

马教授表示，“长远来看，只有调整国家产业结构或加快污染产业升级，从而减少污染物排放源，这样才能减轻污染问题。”

The professor praised the government's efforts to reduce carbon-dioxide after an action plan was started in 2013.

马教授称赞了政府2013年开始实施行动方案后减少二氧化碳排放的措施。

But the increased use of coal in winter for heating homes is still a big problem. Reducing these emissions will remain difficult for China's government as it attempts to find cleaner energy alternatives.

但是冬季供暖用煤的增加仍然是一个大问题。尽管中国政府试图寻找更清洁能源替代品，但是减少这类排放对其而言仍然比较困难。

I'm Bryan Lynn.

布莱恩·林恩报道。

China suffered its worst air pollution of the year recently.

More than 70 Chinese cities released warnings to citizens in the last few days about pollution reaching dangerous levels.

The poor air quality led the government to order factories, some power plants and schools to close. But there were reports that some local officials were not obeying the orders.

In one city in northern Hebei province, people wrote on social media that schools were kept open although the area had the highest pollution threat. Media reports in the central province of Henan also showed pictures of students completing school activities in the dirty open air.

State-run news agency Xinhua reported that an official in Henan province said factory production was continuing. The official said up to 4,000 factories had not stopped or limited production as ordered by the government. Records of power use at the factories showed little change in the amount of production.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a statement Monday that only “a small number of businesses” had not taken the bans seriously and continued operations.

Driving restrictions were also put in effect and hundreds of flights were delayed or cancelled in Beijing because of poor visibility.

The ministry said more than 100,000 drivers in Beijing had been fined for violating the traffic bans.

The World Health Organization measures air quality by the amount of small, particles in it, known as PM2.5. Small particles of this size are easily breathed in and can damage the lungs.

The WHO identifies a safe level of air quality as containing 10-25 micrograms per cubic meter of PM2.5. Beijing reached dangerous levels of more than 400 micrograms per cubic meter this week.

Weather officials were predicting that nighttime winds could finally push out much of the pollution from Beijing and other cities by Thursday.

Ma Yongliang is a professor with Tsinghua University’s school of environment. He said temporary government restrictions will not solve the nation’s pollution problems over a long period of time.

“In the long run, the pollution problem can only be eased by adjusting the country’s industrial structure, or accelerating the upgrading of [polluting] industries, so as to cut down the emission sources of pollutants,” Ma said.

The professor praised the government’s efforts to reduce carbon-dioxide after an action plan was started in 2013.

But the increased use of coal in winter for heating homes is still a big problem. Reducing these emissions will remain difficult for China’s government as it attempts to find cleaner energy alternatives.

I’m Bryan Lynn.

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Words in This Story

visibility – n. how far or well you can see

lung – n. an organ used by people to breathe air

accelerate – v. speed up

emission – n. the sending of gas, heat, light, etc. into the air

alternative – n. another option chosen instead of something else