2005
| Index |
| Preface |
| Freshwater Environment |
| Marine Environment |
| Atmospheric Environment |
| Acoustic Environment |
| Solid Wastes |
| Radiation and Radioactive Environment |
| Arable Land/Land Resources |
| Forests |
| Grassland |
| Biodiversity |
| Climate and Natural Disasters |
| Environmental Management |
|
General Situation
Overall urban air quality was improved to some extent compared with the previous year despite heavy pollution in some cities. Of the 522 cities under the monitoring program of 2005, 319 were at or above prefecture level, and 203 were of county level. 22 cities met Grade I national air quality standard, accounting for 4.2%; 293 met Grade II standard, taking up 56.1%; 152 met Grade III standard, taking up 29.1%, and 55 failed to meet Grade III, accounting for 10.6%. The major pollutant was inhalable particulates.
Proportions of Cities with Varied Levels of Air Quality Compared with last year, the proportion of cities with air quality at or better than Grade II increased by 12.6 percentage points among the 522 cities. The percentage of cities with air quality worse than Grade III dropped by 9.9 percentage points. So the urban air quality had some improvement.
Comparison of Ambient Air Quality among Comparable Cities between 2004 and 2005
Major Pollutants in the Air
Particulates were still the major pollutant that affected the air quality, but the situation turned better than in last year. Among the cities under monitoring, 40.5% had particulates exceeded Grade II standard, down by 12.0 percentage points than last year; 5.5% surpassed Grade III standard, a decrease of 9.4 percentage points than that of the last year.
Cities with heavy particulate pollution were mainly distributed in provinces (autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government) such as Shanxi, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, Gansu, Sichuan, Henan, Shaanxi, Hunan, Liaoning, Xinjiang and Beijing.
Proportions of Cities with Different Levels of Particulates
Proportions of Cities with Different Levels of Particulates
In general, SO2 levels in urban areas remained the same with last year. Among the comparable cities, 77.4% had the annual average SO2 level meeting Grade II national standard (0.06mg/m3), and 6.5% met Grade III standard (0.10 mg/m3). Cities suffering from heavy SO2 pollution distributed in provinces (autonomous regions, or municipalities directly under the Central Government) like Shanxi, Hebei, Gansu, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Guangxi, Hubei, Shaanxi, Henan, Hunan, Sichuan, Liaoning, and Chongqing.
Proportions of Cities with SO2 at Different Levels
Proportions of Cities with SO2 at Different Levels
NO2 levels of all cities in the statistics met Grade II national standard. However, major cities like Guangzhou, Beijing, Ningbo, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Harbin, Urumchi, Nanjing, Chengdu and Wuhai observed relatively higher NO2 levels.
SO2 Pollution in the Two Controlled Zones
Among the 62 comparable cities in the SO2 controlled zone, 45.1% had the annual average SO2 levels meeting Grade II standard, an increase of 4.5 percentage points. 54.9% failed to meet Grade II standard, of which 13 cities surpassed Grade III standard, taking up 21.0% and down by 8.7 percentage points. SO2 pollution was alleviated in some of the cities that suffered from heavy SO2 pollution. Of the comparable cities in acid rain controlled zones, 73.9% had annual average SO2 levels meeting Grade II standard, up by 0.9 percentage points; and 4.5% failed to meet Grade III standard, down by 2.5 percentage points compared with that of the last year.
SO2 Pollution in the Two Controlled Zones
Comparison of SO2 pollution in the Two Controlled Zones between 2004 and 2005
Air Quality of Major Cities
Of the 113 major cities for air pollution prevention and control, Haikou and Beihai City had air quality at Grade I standard, taking up 1.8%, 46 cities including Zhanjiang experienced Grade II standard air quality, accounting for 40.7%; 58 ones met with Grade III, taking up 51.3%; and seven ones failed to meet with Grade III, accounting for 6.2%. Compared with last year, 15 more cities reached the air quality standard and 23 ones less failed to meet with Grade III standard. The air quality of national key environmental protection cities was remarkably improved.
Acid Rain
357 out of 696 cities (or counties) under national acid rain monitoring program experienced acid rain in 2005, taking up 51.3%. Among them, the acid rain occurrence was 100% in Xiangshan County and Anji County of Zhejiang Province, Shaowu City of Fujian Province, and Ruijin City of Jiangxi Province.
In 2005, the annual average pH value of precipitation in 696 cities (counties) nationwide ranged from 3.87 (Guixi City of Jiangxi Province) to 8.35 (Kuerle City of Xinjiang Autonomous Region). 267 cities had pH value below 5.6, accounting for 38.4%. Among them, Guixi City of Jiangxi Province, Changsha and Liuyang City of Hunan Province, Zigui County of Hubei Province, and Shunde District of Foshan City, Guangdong Province had the annual average pH value no more than 4.0.
Compared with 527 cities in the 2004 statistics, the proportion of cities where acid rain appeared increased by 1.8 percentage points, while cities with annual average pH value below 5.6 rose by 0.7 percentage point. Among them, the proportion of cities with pH value less than 4.5 increased by 1.9 percentage points. Cities with acid rain occurrences exceeding 80% rose by 2.8 percentage points. The fact that even more cities had low pH value and high acid rain occurrences indicated that acid rain pollution in 2005 deteriorated compared with that of 2004.
Compared with last year, North China saw some increased occurrence of acid rain in 2005, while acid rain occurrences in other areas remained stable. The acid rain areas distributed mainly south of Yangtze River and east of Sichuan and Yunnan Province, covering most areas of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Hunan, Fujian, Guizhou, Guangxi, and Chongqing. Zhejiang, Jiangxi, and Hunan Provinces saw more serious acid rain, so did northwest Guangxi Autonomous Region and Pearl River Delta of Guangdong Province.
In northern cities like Beijing, Tianjin, Dalian, Dandong, and Tieling City of Liaoning Province, Tumen City of Jilin Province, Hunchun City of Heilongjiang Province, Chengde City of Hebei Province, Luoyang and Nanyang City of Henan Province, and Weinan and Shangluo City of Shaanxi Province, the annual average pH value were below 5.6.
Acid Rain Controlled Zones
The annual average pH values of precipitation in the 111 cities within the acid rain controlled zones ranged between 4.02 (Changsha City of Hunan Province) and 6.79 (Yunfu City of Guangdong Province). 103 cities had experienced acid rain, taking up 92.8%; 25 cities had the acid rain occurrences to be more than 80%, accounting for 22.5% and up by 3.7 percentage points. The annual average pH values of 81 cities were below 5.6, taking up73.0% and down by 1.1%. 27 cities saw the pH value less than 4.5, accounting for 24.3% and up by 2.8 percentage points. The scope of areas polluted by acid rain in the controlled zones remained stable but with heavier pollution.
Proportions of Cites with Different Precipitation Acidity in the Acid Rain Controlled Zones in 2005
Proportions of Cites with Different Acid Rain Occurrences in the Acid Rain Controlled Zones in 2005
Discharge Amount of Major Pollutants in Waste Gas
In 2005, the SO2 emissions amounted to 25.493 million tons (including 21.684 million tons from industrial sector and 3.809 million tons from domestic sector). The soot emissions were 11.825 million tons (including 9.489 million tons from industrial sources and 2.336 million tons from domestic sources). The industrial dust amounted to 9.112 million tons.
Discharge Amount of Major Pollutants in Waste Gas Nationwide in Recent Years Unit: 1,000 tons
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