The battle against PM2.5 is on

Abstract On 21 February 2014, almost 15% of China (mostly in the east) was enveloped by haze with hazardous PM2.5 pollutants (particulate matter with size smaller than 2.5 μm). This is a problem that had also frequently occurred in 2013. During the subsequent meeting of the Chinese parliament in mid-March 2014, a national battle against air pollution in future years is proposed ‘in order to accelerate the overall environmental initiatives and improve people's quality of life’. Zhongli Ding, Vice President of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and a climatologist with extensive experience in research and policy making, stated clearly that only the most stringent environment standard implementation could curb the present problem. Never before has a country faced such complex conditions as China. ‘We have London fog and San Francisco's smog combined, and moreover, 10 provinces and cities in eastern China, including Beijing and Tianjin, accounting for only 0.6% of the world land area, but the highest per unit area emission in the world; the entire Hebei province is one big smokestack.’ In an interview with NSR and a meteorologist Huijun Wang, Ding talked about how China is currently combating with air pollution.