The High Price of China's Smoggy Skies
A documentary on air pollution hopes to spur action
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Rachel Carson's 1962 take on the environmental damage wrought by the U.S. chemical industry in The Silent Spring is credited with spurring a nationwide ban on the use of DDT in agriculture. Al Gore's 2006 documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, and his 1,000-plus live slideshow presentations brought global warming to the masses. Now, China has Under the Dome.
In just a few days, more than 100 million have watched online the documentary on China's filthy skies and the toll taken on its people. The chart below illustrates why: a reading of 0-50 is seen as "good" air quality, 51-100 is regarded as "moderate", 101-150 "unhealthy" for sensitive groups, 151-200 deemed "unhealthy" and 201-300 "very unhealthy". Above that is simply "hazardous."