Air quality is measured according to the concentration of particulate matter per cubic meter. The World Health Organization recommends not exceeding 25 micrograms. Shanghai used to set its benchmark for triggering alerts far above that, at 75 micrograms, and has now lifted that to 115 micrograms. Even under the laxer standard, Shanghai would have had to issue warnings: The air quality index was at 238 on Dec. 8 and reached a record 482 on Dec. 6 — or 19 times higher than the W.H.O. recommendation. The environmental bureau’s move was so cynical that even the state-owned China Daily called it “a reluctant tacit acknowledgment of the city’s poor air quality.” … Continue reading Juliet Lapidos