NGO Rates Beijing's Air Pollution As Only 2nd-Worst In 2012 (Lanzhou In Gansu Province "Winner")

[hatrack]

EDIT

Liu Jianqiang , chief editor of the report, said that he could understand why some foreigners had reportedly left Beijing for better air. "They made a wise decision because I don't think Beijing's air quality will improve any time soon," he said. "Many locals, in fact, have the same idea. But we have nowhere to go."

Lanzhou, in the northwestern province of Gansu, finished 31st, below Beijing.

Haikou, in the southernmost province of Hainan, was said to have the cleanest air last year, followed by Kunming, Yunnan and Lhasa, Tibet. Guangzhou ranked fifth, and Shanghai was ninth. The results were based on government-provided figures on air pollutants, including sulphur dioxide and fine particles.

While some rankings stayed more or less the same over the past few years, those of other cities changed considerably. For example, Tianjin was ranked 17th in 2011, but fell to 26th last year, and Chengdu in Sichuan has slipped from 16th in 2010 to 19th in 2011 and 28th last year.

EDIT

http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1212552/air-quality-beijing-second-worst-out-31-mainland-cities

[joshcryer]

1. Gansu province is where the lions share of rare earths come from.

Surprise.