TENSION IN THE AIR: China told foreign embassies to stop publishing their own reports on air quality in the country, escalating its objections to a popular U.S. Embassy Twitter feed that tracks pollution in smoggy Beijing.
QUANTIFYING: The air quality readings in Beijing are based on a single monitoring station within embassy grounds, and pollution levels are rated according to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard that is more stringent than the one used by the Chinese government.
COMP-AIR: The U.S. Embassy on Tuesday reported 47 micrograms of fine particulate matter — particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in size, or about 1/30th the width of an average human hair — and said the level was “unhealthy for sensitive groups.” Readings from Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau’s 27 monitoring stations ranged between 51 to 79 micrograms but categorized all those levels as “good.”
