In the middle of removing weeds from his vegetable plot, Mr Bai Ning stops and gazes into the distance.He casts a rueful look at the soil under his feet which, for generations, had provided a living for his family in Xiaodiantou village.
War on soil pollution was officially declared in China on Tuesday with the release of an action plan to rehabilitate the country's vast tracts of poisoned land. Cleaning up the mess from decades of industrialization and questionable farming practices will be a long hard journey and the plan sets three significant milestones.
Singapore has raised concerns over transboundary air pollution at a United Nations ( UN ) meeting involving some 120 environment ministers in Africa last week, the Ministry for the Environment and Water Resources ( MEWR ) have announced.
An action plan on tackling soil pollution in China was released Tuesday.
Outdoor pollution has risen 8% in five years with fast-growing cities in the developing world worst affected, WHO data shows
The importance of multi-million dollar industries to Australia's economy is hampering efforts to protect threatened species of marine life from plastics, a problem that has been described as on par with global warming, a government inquiry has heard.
Two of the world's largest technology firms, IBM and Microsoft, are vying to tap the nascent, fast-growing market for forecasting air quality in the world's top carbon emitters.
It's not only about salaries, promotions and career prospects - many companies in China have found they need to offer cleaner air within their offices to lure and retain staff.
China's environmental authority reported that 50 cities, including Beijing and Tianjin, were subject to heavy smog on Wednesday.
Some parts of north China will see the worst smog so far this year from Saturday, the official forecaster said on Thursday.Beijing has issued its second red alert for air pollution this month as a new bout of smog is forecast to hit the capital from Saturday to Tuesday.
When air pollution hits a certain danger mark in Beijing, the government issues a red alert that automatically puts curbs on factories, construction work and vehicles. If Delhi had a similar system, then almost right through November, the stipulation on cars with odd- and even-numbered license plate using the roads on alternate days would have been in force. Schools and factories would also have remained shut for the entire month.
The first red alert for smog in Beijing was lifted on Thursday as wind cleared up the sky, but officials will now step up anti-smog efforts, rather than just wait for the wind to blow.
With a new round of smog likely to engulf Beijing and surrounding areas over the next three days, the city issued an orange alert－the second-highest warning level－on Saturday afternoon, 31 hours ahead of the expected gloom.
China's national observatory on Sunday lifted a yellow warning for smog, as cold air will disperse lingering smog in north China in the next few days.
Footage of a snow leopard wandering down a street in a county in northwest China's Qinghai Province captured by an onlooker went viral last month, with netizens calling it a sign of environment recovery.
China's newest air pollution draft law no longer contains clauses allowing local governments to restrict or ban vehicles to fight air pollution, China's top legislature saw on Monday.
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