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Making a Bad Situation Worse

People wearing protective masks ride their bikes along a street during a sandstorm on March 15, 2021 in Beijing, China. The Chinese capital and the northern parts of the country was hit with a sandstorm on Monday, sending air quality indexes of PM 2.5 and PM 10 ratings into the thousands and cancelling flights.
People wearing protective masks ride their bikes along a street during a sandstorm on March 15, 2021 in Beijing, China. The Chinese capital and the northern parts of the country was hit with a sandstorm on Monday, sending air quality indexes of PM 2.5 and PM 10 ratings into the thousands and cancelling flights. Photo: Getty (Getty Images)

The sandstorm has been particularly devastating because it’s adding to China’s already bad air pollution. In winter, the country sees particularly high levels of smog because cities burn coal to generate heat. Right now, 31 cities in the country are under red alert—the highest pollution warning possible—because of their air quality index readings.

The impacts of air pollution are manifold, and none of them are good. A report published last year found that air pollution is the “greatest risk to human health,” and can reduce life expectancy by two years on average. Air pollution is also making covid-19 deadlier, with each microgram of pollution increasing the risk of mortality from the disease that’s ravaged the world by 11%. That makes the situation in Beijing particularly dangerous even as vaccines continue to roll out.

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