People's Daily Online, Beijing, February 21 (Shi Lin) According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, during the Lantern Festival, China's urban air quality was generally good, but Beijing Tianjin Hebei and surrounding areas, Fenwei Plain and Northeast China were affected by fireworks and firecrackers, and some cities suffered from serious air pollution. At the night of the Lantern Festival, a total of 97 cities suffered from hourly heavy pollution and above, and 13 national control points suffered from 37 hour burst (PM2.5 hourly concentration exceeded 500 μ g/m3）。
Hourly number of heavily polluted cities and PM2.5 concentration in China from February 19 to 20, 2019 at 6:00 am (photo source: Ministry of Ecological Environment)
The person in charge of the Ministry of Ecology and Environment said that during the Lantern Festival, 17 of 337 cities at prefecture level and above had serious pollution, including 16, and Suihua had serious pollution. Compared with the previous day, the number of heavily polluted cities and above increased by 14. In the daytime of the 19th, the hourly AQI of 23 cities reached heavy pollution and above at the same time. The number of heavily polluted cities rose rapidly from 18:00 to 23:00, and the pollution was the most serious. There were 72 cities with hourly AQI reaching heavy pollution and above. On the night of the 19th, 13 of the 1436 state-controlled sites nationwide had PM2.5 hourly concentrations that exploded for 37 hours, involving five provinces and eight cities including Handan, Hebei, Baotou, Inner Mongolia, Harbin, Yichun, Suihua, Heihe, Heilongjiang, Heze, Shandong and Puyang, Henan.
On the 19th, among the "2+26" cities in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas, 7 cities including Shijiazhuang, Baoding and Handan were heavily polluted. Xingtai is the most polluted city in the region, with the average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 of 208 μ G/m3 and 257 μ G/m3, AQI value reaches 258. From 23:00 on the 19th to 3:00 on the 20th in Handan, the hourly AQI continued to explode the meter for 5 hours. Beijing is slightly polluted, the main pollutant is PM2.5, and the average concentration is 89 μ G/m3, hourly heavy pollution occurred at 18:00 and 19:00.
In the Fen Wei Plain, Xianyang, Weinan, Linfen, Baoji and other four cities are heavily polluted. Baoji is the most polluted city in the region, with the average concentrations of PM2.5 and PM10 of 198 μ G/m3 and 216 μ G/m3, AQI value reaches 248.
Urban hourly heavy pollution is serious in Northeast China. During the period from 1:00 on the 19th to 8:00 on the 20th, a total of 30 cities experienced heavy pollution or above. Suihua and Harbin are the two cities with the most serious pollution, with 27 hours and 23 hours of serious pollution respectively; Five cities, including Songyuan, Jilin, Anshan, Liaoyang and Daqing, have been heavily polluted for more than 10 hours.
The observation results of the National Atmospheric Composition Network show that Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei and surrounding areas are significantly affected by fireworks during the night of the Lantern Festival. Handan, Puyang, Heze, Anyang and other cities were greatly affected by fireworks, and the potassium ion concentration increased significantly. The potassium ion concentration in Handan increased from 1.0 at 18:00 on the 19th μ G/m3 rose to 174.5 at 2:00 on the 20th μ G/m3, up to 174 times; During the peak period of fireworks and firecrackers (20 on the 19th to 8 on the 20th), the potassium ion concentration in Puyang, Heze and Anyang increased 56 times, 33 times and 15 times respectively.
According to the prediction of China Environmental Monitoring Station and the Air Quality Prediction and Forecast Center in key regions, from the 21st to the 22nd, the Beijing Tianjin Hebei region and its surrounding areas, as well as the Fenwei Plain, will continue to have calm and stable weather. It is difficult to quickly eliminate the fireworks pollution, and some cities will still maintain heavy pollution.
(Editor in charge: Shi Lin, He Yingchun)
