"Haze Grey" → "Normal Blue" He spent ten years filming to witness the changes in Beijing's sky PM2.5 | Beijing | Normal Blue "He used
Nowadays, many people like to post "Beijing Blue" on their social media, which means the beautiful blue sky of Beijing. In the past decade, the air quality in Beijing has significantly improved, with PM2.5 dropping to 30 micrograms per cubic meter in 2022. The speed of air quality improvement has also been dubbed a "miracle" by the United Nations Environment Programme.
With the continuous improvement of air quality, people's sense of gain is also constantly increasing. Since the beginning of 2013, Beijing citizen Zou Yi has been taking photos of the sky with his phone every day, regardless of whether it is cloudy, sunny, rainy or snowy. Today, he has been taking photos for 3922 days, truly witnessing the transformation of Beijing's sky from "haze gray" to "normal blue".
Citizen Zou Yi: Every day, I take such a "plain" photo. What can I do with taking a photo? Actually, there's nothing we can do. But if you persist for a month, these photos will be records of your life; Persisting for a year, they reflect the weather of this city; Persisting for ten years, it is the visual history of Beijing's air changes.
Citizen Zou Yi: I started filming the air quality in Beijing on January 27, 2013. At that time, January was heavily polluted for two weeks, with no blue sky or people visible.
Citizen Zou Yi: Our family purchased three air purifiers at once, all of which were high-power, so I took this photo. Two months ago, I put together four of these photos. When I saw these photos from the past two months, they gave me a great shock and impact. You can hardly see the decent blue sky. When I posted this photo on Weibo, it caused a huge response. The vast majority of people didn't believe it, but it is also reality, and you still have to face it.
In September 2013, the State Council issued the "Action Plan for Air Pollution Prevention and Control", also known as the "Ten Measures for the Atmosphere", proposing to control the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing to around 60 micrograms per cubic meter by 2017.
Citizen Zou Yi: From 2013, 2014, 2015 to 2017, throughout this process, one can feel the efforts made by the country and the whole society to achieve this goal. Basically, everyone is striving for this goal. The country is in pollution control and environmental protection. At that time, you will feel everyone's desire for a big change. Every day, they yearn for it to be a blue sky, and every day, they yearn for it to be a standard weather. Therefore, the perseverance and expectations of this year are the driving force for me to do this.
On January 3, 2018, the Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau announced that the annual average concentration of PM2.5 in Beijing in 2017 was 58 micrograms per cubic meter, achieving the State Council's "Ten Measures for the Atmosphere" target, a decrease of 35.6% compared to 2013; The number of days for air quality to meet standards is 226, an increase of 50 days compared to 2013.
Citizen Zou Yi: From 2018 to 2020, based on the concentration of PM2.5, it did indeed decrease. From 89.5 micrograms/cubic meter to 60 micrograms/cubic meter, to over 40 micrograms/cubic meter, the world could not have achieved such a result in such a short period of time. However, Beijing's achievement is also a microcosm of China's victory in the defense of the blue sky.
In 2021, Beijing's air quality fully met the standard for the first time, with an average annual concentration of PM2.5 dropping to 33 micrograms per cubic meter. From January 27, 2013 to August 2023, Zou Yi composed the Beijing Blue Sky Photo Collection with over 3900 photos he took.
Citizen Zou Yi: In 2013, the standard weather for the whole year was not more than half. In 2021 and 2022, when there were 300 days of good weather, my mood was filled with pride and pride. So you will see more people outdoors and children happier. I think everyone, regardless of gender, age, and age, has the same sensitivity to air quality. We need to continue to make the sky bluer, the water clearer, and the ground greener.
