數據預測北京還要再呼吸16年霧霾
A trickle of statements from Chinese leaders in recent months have given hope to some residents of Beijing and other smog-choked Chinese cities that they might regularly breathe clean air within a few years. Prime Minister Li Keqiang in March declared a “war against pollution,” for instance.
中國領導人最近幾個月發表的一系列聲明，給北京及其他被煙霧籠罩的城市的居民帶來了希望，他們可能會在幾年之內，實現經常呼吸新鮮空氣的夢想。例如，中國總理李克強在今年3月「向環境污染宣戰」。But China Daily, an official English-language newspaper, came in with a reality check on Wednesday in the form of an article published under the headline “Beijing Expects Healthy Air by 2030.”
但週三，官方英文報紙《中國日報》的一篇題爲《北京空氣質量有望在2030年達標》的報道，將人們拉回到現實中來。The article went on to say that it would be 16 years before levels of dangerous fine particulate matter in the Chinese capital would drop to an “internationally recognized safe level.” The fine particulate matter is known as PM 2.5 because its diameter is less than 2.5 microns. It can penetrate deep into the lungs and enter the bloodstream.
該報道稱，北京地區的危險細顆粒物濃度降到「國際公認的安全水平」需要16年的時間。這種細顆粒物的直徑不足2.5微米，因此被稱爲PM2.5。它能夠深入肺部，並進入血液。
The 16-year time frame means that anyone born today in Beijing who grows up in the city will spend his or her entire childhood breathing unhealthy air. In recent years, parents in Beijing, a city of more than 21 million, have become increasingly anxious about the air quality and other forms of pollution. Many Chinese who can afford to do so are moving abroad or decamping to cleaner parts of China. Multinational companies are having a much harder time recruiting foreign workers for Beijing jobs. Beijing residents are stocking up on expensive air purifiers, and some international schools have even set up outdoor sports domes made of synthetic fabric (what some parents are calling “pollution domes”).
16 年的時間意味着，如今在北京出生、長大的兒童，在整個童年時期都將呼吸有害空氣。最近幾年，居住在北京的家長們日益擔心空氣質量及其他污染。北京人口已經 超過了2100萬。很多有條件的中國人都已搬到國外，或逃到國內空氣比較清潔的地區。如今，跨國公司要招聘外國人到北京工作比以前難了很多。北京居民採購 昂貴的空氣凈化器，一些國際學校甚至還在室外運動場上搭起由混合纖維製成的頂篷（一些家長稱之爲「污染篷」）。Recent scientific studies have shown that the type of air pollution in northern China can shave five years off the average life span, lead to permanent lung impairment in children and contribute to slow brain development and personality problems in children whose mothers were exposed to the bad air during pregnancy.
最近的科學研究發現，中國北部地區的空氣污染類型能使平均壽命縮減五年，使兒童遭受永久性的肺損傷，母親在懷孕期間呼吸有毒空氣還會導致孩子大腦發育緩慢，存在性格問題。Most of the air pollution in Beijing comes from coal-burning power plants and factories in nearby provinces. Emissions from vehicles, especially those using diesel gasoline, are also major contributors.
北京地區的空氣污染主要源自周邊省份的燃煤發電廠和工廠。汽車——特別是使用柴油、汽油的汽車排放的尾氣也是主要因素。“Improving air quality in the city is not going to be an easy task,” Pan Tao, head of the Beijing Municipal Research Institute of Environmental Protection, said at a conference, according to China Daily. “It takes time and effort to turn the ship around.”
據《中國日報》報道，「改善北京空氣質量不是一項簡單的任務，」北京市環境保護科學研究院院長潘濤在參加會議時說。「改變現狀需要時間和精力。」The concentration level of PM 2.5 cited by China Daily as “healthy,” and supposedly attainable by 2030, was 35 micrograms per cubic meter. The article said the World Health Organization had stated that PM 2.5 levels should not exceed this.
《中國日報》報道稱，PM2.5濃度的「健康」標準爲35微克/立方米，北京有望在2030年達標。文章稱，世界衛生組織（World Health Organization，簡稱WHO）已經說明，PM2.5濃度不應該超過這個標準。Actually, the W.H.O. has said that PM 2.5 should not exceed 25 micrograms per cubic meter over a 24-hour period. By that standard, Beijing still might not have healthy air by 2030. The limit of 35 micrograms per cubic meter, mistakenly cited by China Daily as the W.H.O. standard, is actually just an interim target set by the W.H.O. for heavily polluted countries. For all nations, the W.H.O. recommends achieving the standard of 25 micrograms per cubic meter.
實 際上，WHO說的是PM2.5平均濃度要在24小時內不超過25微克/立方米。按照這個標準，北京的空氣質量可能在2030年前無法達標。《中國日報》錯 誤地引用了WHO設定的35微克/立方米的標準，實際上那是WHO爲污染嚴重的國家設定的過渡目標。WHO建議所有國家達到25微克/立方米的標準。China Daily cited Mr. Pan as saying an average PM 2.5 concentration of 35 micrograms per cubic meter could be reached by 2030.
《中國日報》援引潘濤的話稱，北京的PM2.5年均濃度有望在2030年達標。The Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau has said the average PM 2.5 concentration last year was 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter, which is more than 3.5 times the W.H.O. recommended exposure limit. On a particularly grim day in January 2013 that is now commonly called the “airpocalypse” by English speakers, parts of Beijing had PM 2.5 concentrations that were 40 times the W.H.O. recommended limit.
北 京市環保局曾表示，去年PM2.5年均濃度爲89.5微克/立方米，是WHO建議的接觸限度的三倍多。在2013年1月空氣格外糟糕的一天——說英語的人 通常稱之爲「airpocalypse」（空氣末日），北京部分地區的PM2.5濃度是WHO建議的接觸限度的40倍。On Tuesday, which happened to be the 93rd birthday of the Chinese Communist Party, the PM 2.5 concentration in Beijing hit 168 micrograms per cubic meter, almost seven times the W.H.O. exposure limit, according to the United States Embassy’s rooftop air monitor. The air was a dismal gray soup the entire day, and the embassy rated it as “very unhealthy” in the evening.
美國大使館屋頂上的空氣污染監測器顯示，週二，北京的PM2.5濃度達到了168微克/立方米，幾乎是WHO接觸限度的七倍，這一天正好是中國共產黨的93歲生日。天空一整天都非常陰沉，大使館在晚上將空氣質量評定爲「非常不健康」。“The current pollution emission is far beyond the environmental capacity in the city, and any adverse climate condition would easily result in smoggy days,” Mr. Pan said, according to China Daily. “The key to current air quality improvement lies in emission reduction.”
據《中國日報》報道，「當前北京的污染物排放量仍遠超環境容量，任何惡劣的氣候條件都容易產生霧霾天，」潘濤說。「目前，改善空氣質量關鍵在於減排。」An antipollution plan announced last September by the State Council, China’s cabinet, said the crowded and filthy Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area of northern China had to reduce PM 2.5 levels by 25 percent before 2017. But Mr. Pan said that even if Beijing and the nearby areas were to meet that target, the level of particulate matter would still be harmful to people’s health.
中國國務院（相當於中國的內閣）去年9月公佈了大氣污染防治計劃，稱北方的京津冀地區必須在2017年前將PM2.5濃度降低25%。但潘濤表示，即便北京及周邊地區達到了該目標，顆粒物的濃度仍對健康有害。In March, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced that only three of 74 Chinese cities whose air is monitored by the central government met minimum standards for air quality last year. The State Council said in February that it would offer a total of 10 billion renminbi, or $1.65 billion, to cities and regions that made “significant progress” this year in air pollution control.
今年3月，中國環境保護部宣佈，去年中央政府監測的74個城市中，只有3個城市達到了最低空氣質量標準。中國國務院在今年2月宣佈，今年將爲那些在空氣污染治理方面取得「重大進步」的城市和地區提供總計100億元人民幣的獎勵。
