BEIJING, Jan. 10 A new study questions whether air quality in Beijing has improved, a finding that the Chinese government disputes.
The American-authored study concluded that "irregularities" in the city's system of measuring air pollution have enabled the city to meet environmental targets linked to this summer's Olympic Games, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The report suggests that Beijing's "Blue Sky" system of air quality monitoring is flawed since officials stopped including readings from two stations in polluted areas and began using readings in three other stations in less polluted areas.
Without the switch, Beijing would have fallen far short of its goals in 2006 and 2007 for the number of days that met national air quality standards, the study concluded.
"Irregularities in the monitoring of air quality account for all reported improvements over the last nine years," said Steven Andrews, the author of the study.
Du Shaozhong, deputy director of Beijing's Environmental Protection Bureau, said in response that the city's air had improved although it still has a long way to go.
"Over the past 10 years, through our enormous hard work, Beijing's air pollution has visibly improved," Du said in a statement. "This is an indisputable fact."
Copyright 2008 by UPI
