世
界卫生组织(World Health Organization, 简称：世卫组织)周二呼吁中国改善空气质量，并在北京的空气污染连续第六天达到有害水平之际，敦促北京居民呆在室内。相关报道
世卫组织驻中国代表施贺德(Bernhard Schwartlnder)说，他对北京近日出现的严重雾霾天气感到担心。世卫组织一直在与中国有关部门联系，讨论污染问题以及解决该问题的措施。
施贺德说，没有简单的解决方案，他补充说，解决空气污染问题需要控制工业和经济的发展。
Reuters
重度雾霾令北京窒息
自上周四以来，严重雾霾持续笼罩中国北部和中部的大部分地区。天津市与河北省政府自周末起采取了相应措施，包括减少上路行驶车辆以及暂停部分钢铁等污染行业的生产等。
中央气象台周二重申了上述地区的霾橙色预警。去年10月份，由于面临来自公众要求对污染采取行动的压力，中国有关部门建立了预警系统。其中，橙色预警是仅次于红色预警的空气污染预警次高级别。橙色预警要求建筑工地停止作业，下令工厂临时将污染物排放水平减少30%。燃放烟花和露天烧烤也被禁止。建议儿童和老人留在室内，居民出行鼓励使用公共交通，减少自驾车。
在北京，浅灰色的雾霾让建筑物和地标变得模糊。世卫组织官员说，污染水平会威胁到人体健康，但同时也警告说，对于当地媒体报道的肺癌和其他疾病具体案例，他们无法将其与近期的污染水平联系起来。
世卫组织西太平洋地区主任申英秀(Shin Young-Soo)说，对于这些疾病是否与空气污染有关，我们持谨慎看法；我们知道雾霾对人们的身体健康有影响，但有多大的影响我们还不确定。
中国官方媒体广泛报道了雾霾问题，这显示中国最高领导层承认这个问题对其公信力构成了挑战。新华社援引河北当地环保局官员的话说，一位居民把当地政府告上了法庭，这反映出公众越来越高的环境意识。新华社报道，市民李贵欣2月20日向裕华区人民法院提起诉讼。
与此同时，中国网民对中国最高领导人习近平周二现身北京南锣鼓巷纷纷发表评论。中国社交媒体的照片显示，中国国家主席、中共中央总书记习近平来到北京的南锣鼓巷。这是北京一条受游客欢迎的巷子，有许多卖小吃的商贩和其他店铺。中国高层领导人以这种方式公开露面并不常见。
许多网民指出，他在污染如此严重的一天来到室外，还没有戴口罩。新浪微博用户广泛对此做出了回应，很多人在回帖中说：同呼吸，共命运。
Laurie Burkitt
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
The World Health Organization on Tuesday called on China to improve its air quality and urged residents of Beijing to stay indoors as the capital city suffered a sixth day of hazardous-level air pollution.
Bernhard Schwartländer, the organization's China chief, said he is concerned about the smog that has smothered Beijing in recent days. The WHO has been in contact with national authorities to discuss the problem and steps toward a solving it.
'There is no easy solution,' Dr. Schwartländer said, adding that solving the problem requires managing industry and the economy.
As of Tuesday night, levels of tiny, hazardous particulate matter known as PM2.5 averaged 452 micrograms per cubic meter over a 24-hour period, according to readings from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. That was more than 18 times the WHO's recommended level of 25 micrograms per cubic meter.
Heavily pollution has plagued much of northern and central China since Thursday. Since the weekend, governments in the northeastern city of Tianjin and northern Hebei province have taken steps that include reducing the number of cars on the road and suspending some production in industries such as steel.
China's National Meteorological Center said Tuesday it reaffirmed the region's orange alert, its second-most-severe air-pollution warning after red under a system enacted in October amid rising public pressure on authorities to act on pollution. That alert level requires a halt to construction work and orders factories to temporarily reduce emissions by 30%. Fireworks and outdoor barbecuing are also banned. Children and the elderly are advised to stay indoors, and residents are encouraged to use public transportation instead of cars.
In Beijing, where a light gray mist shrouded buildings and landmarks, WHO officials said the pollution levels pose a threat to human health, though they cautioned that they couldn't link recent pollution levels with local media reports of specific cases of lung cancer and other ailments.
'We're cautious of whether the illness is related to air pollution,' said Shin Young-Soo, the WHO's Western Pacific regional director, adding, 'We know it has an impact on health, but we don't know how much.'
In a sign that China's top leadership acknowledges the problem poses a credibility issue for them, official Chinese media covered the pollution problem extensively. The official Xinhua News Agency quoted a local environmental official in Hebei province as acknowledging that a lawsuit filed by a citizen against the local government reflected increasing environmental awareness. Xinhua said the citizen, Li Guixin, filed the suit in a local court in the district of Yuhua on Feb. 20.
Meanwhile, China's online community remarked on the appearance of China's top leader, Xi Jinping, on a trendy street in Beijing Tuesday. Chinese social media showed Mr. Xi--China's president and the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party--strolling down an alleyway called Nanluoguxiang, an area popular with tourists and filled with street-food vendors and other businesses. Such public appearances by senior Chinese leaders are rare.
Many noted that he walked outside on such a heavily polluted day without an air mask. 'Breathing together, sharing the same fate,' read a widely repeated response on Sina Corp.'s Weibo microblogging platform.
Laurie Burkitt
Copyright (c) 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Bernhard Schwartländer, the organization's China chief, said he is concerned about the smog that has smothered Beijing in recent days. The WHO has been in contact with national authorities to discuss the problem and steps toward a solving it.
'There is no easy solution,' Dr. Schwartländer said, adding that solving the problem requires managing industry and the economy.
As of Tuesday night, levels of tiny, hazardous particulate matter known as PM2.5 averaged 452 micrograms per cubic meter over a 24-hour period, according to readings from the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. That was more than 18 times the WHO's recommended level of 25 micrograms per cubic meter.
Heavily pollution has plagued much of northern and central China since Thursday. Since the weekend, governments in the northeastern city of Tianjin and northern Hebei province have taken steps that include reducing the number of cars on the road and suspending some production in industries such as steel.
China's National Meteorological Center said Tuesday it reaffirmed the region's orange alert, its second-most-severe air-pollution warning after red under a system enacted in October amid rising public pressure on authorities to act on pollution. That alert level requires a halt to construction work and orders factories to temporarily reduce emissions by 30%. Fireworks and outdoor barbecuing are also banned. Children and the elderly are advised to stay indoors, and residents are encouraged to use public transportation instead of cars.
In Beijing, where a light gray mist shrouded buildings and landmarks, WHO officials said the pollution levels pose a threat to human health, though they cautioned that they couldn't link recent pollution levels with local media reports of specific cases of lung cancer and other ailments.
'We're cautious of whether the illness is related to air pollution,' said Shin Young-Soo, the WHO's Western Pacific regional director, adding, 'We know it has an impact on health, but we don't know how much.'
In a sign that China's top leadership acknowledges the problem poses a credibility issue for them, official Chinese media covered the pollution problem extensively. The official Xinhua News Agency quoted a local environmental official in Hebei province as acknowledging that a lawsuit filed by a citizen against the local government reflected increasing environmental awareness. Xinhua said the citizen, Li Guixin, filed the suit in a local court in the district of Yuhua on Feb. 20.
Meanwhile, China's online community remarked on the appearance of China's top leader, Xi Jinping, on a trendy street in Beijing Tuesday. Chinese social media showed Mr. Xi--China's president and the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party--strolling down an alleyway called Nanluoguxiang, an area popular with tourists and filled with street-food vendors and other businesses. Such public appearances by senior Chinese leaders are rare.
Many noted that he walked outside on such a heavily polluted day without an air mask. 'Breathing together, sharing the same fate,' read a widely repeated response on Sina Corp.'s Weibo microblogging platform.
Laurie Burkitt
Copyright (c) 2014 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
