The great thing about air pollution is that you can see it. After years of ignoring the thickening smog around them – or dismissing it as an inevitable consequence of rapid growth – more and more Chinese are clearly worried. Last year’s “airpocalypse” was a turning point. PM2.5 fine particulates reached levels 70 times those considered safe in the west. Dangerously high levels of smog returned last month. In recent years there have been public protests against chemical factories and toxic waste spills throughout China. Even parts of the state media have taken to reprimanding local officials for failing to meet their own clean-up targets.
空氣污染的好處在于，你能瞧見它。多年來，中國人一直忽視身邊日漸濃重的霧霾，或將其視為快速發展不可避免的代價。但如今，越來越多的中國人表現出了明顯的擔憂。去年的“空氣末日”是人們意識的一個轉折點，當時PM2.5細小顆粒物的濃度上升到了西方國家安全水平的70倍。上個月，危險的高濃度霧霾又卷土重來。近年來，中國各地不時發生反對化工廠和有毒廢物排放的公眾抗議。就連部分官方媒體也開始批評地方官員沒能完成他們的治污目標。