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Air pollution index

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Every year more than 650,000 people in China die from diseases related to air pollution (World Health Organisation, 2007).

The air pollution index or API is a way of measuring how polluted the air is.

Every day Greenpeace China publishes Beijing’s daily air pollution index on our front page. We get the data from China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection

Use the Greenpeace API widget on your website

Our Greenpeace API widget sits snugly on your website and automatically updates itself every day.

Just insert this code into your page.

Both Beijing and Hong Kong report daily API’s but they are calculated in different ways.

The higher the API, the more serious is the pollution.

Read about our campaign to clean up Hong Kong's air pollution here. Or scroll to the bottom of this page to watch an unusual air campaign video.

What are blue sky days?


	Killer Gases Air pollution comes from power stations, car exhuasts, construction and factories. It can cause lung disease and even death. The main ones are: •sulphur dioxide •nitrogen dioxide •PM10 •carbon monoxide •ozone

The Chinese government calls days with an API of 100 or less “blue sky days.” An API of over 100 is more likely to trigger health complications.

During the Summer Olympics in 2008 the government bought in sweeping measures to reduce air pollution. Around half the cars were banned from the roads, all construction was stopped and factories were closed down.

Greenpeace China ran a Blue Skies campaign after the Games to urge the government to keep up their strict Olympic measures on cleaning the air.

Why is Beijing so polluted?

Mainly because of heavy construction, booming industry and growing private car ownership. There are about 3.5 million cars on Beijing's roads now.

The city is also ringed by mountains that trap all these poisonous gases.

Coal power stations are among the worst culprits. See our research last year on how deadly coal is in China.

What is the government doing?

While the Olympic measures were stringent and cleared up the skies for the Games, pollution levels have crept back up.

But there is a positive legacy from the Olympics.

All those factories that were relocated because of the Games haven't come back and are still far from Beijing.

And the government has started some pilot projects to try and reduce the capital's air pollution.

So far this is what they have done:

•Really dirty cars -- those that do not meet Euro I standards, or yellow-label cars -- are banned from entering the city.

•Private car owners are banned from driving one day a week depending on the number plate.

•The government says it will invest about US$1.6 billion in 2009 in subsidies to make travelling by bus and train even cheaper.

•The capital has ambitious plans to triple its subway network by 2015 with around 10 new lines.

Greenpeace China wants the Chinese government to bring back its tough Olympic air quality improvement initiatives in Beijing and spread them to other cities on the mainland.

What's he saying?
And lastly, Greenpeace Hong Kong's air pollution campaign goes urban street with MC Yan. Word of warning: even Cantonese speakers aren't entirely sure of the lyrics.

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