China Airpocalypse

As air pollution hits toxic levels, China counts the human cost of its rapid economic growth.



In January 2013, a dense yellow fog shrouded northern China in one of the most alarming incidents of air pollution on record.

Readings of the smallest - and deadliest - airborne particles soared to nearly 40 times recommended safety levels. Residents were warned to stay indoors; expats dubbed it the "Airpocalypse"; and Chinese media were given unprecedented freedom to report on the toxic air conditions.

For many Chinese, it brought a stark realisation of how hazardous air pollution had become, but the worst may still be ahead. A Deutsche Bank report released in February said the current trends of coal use and automobile emissions suggest air pollution could worsen by an additional 70 percent by 2025. In China's five northwestern provinces alone, carbon dioxide emissions from coal production are predicted to rise by 1,400 million tonnes by 2015, an amount equal to Russia's entire national output in 2010.

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