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  • Don't worry! Everything's fine!

  • I'm just in a fairyland.

  • Ughhh, dying.

  • Hi, welcome to China Uncensored I'm your host Chris Chappell.

  • Okay, sorry, one second.

  • Help me Captain Planet!

  • Ah, much better.

  • So a few days ago,

  • state-run Xinhua News asked on their Twitter account if the city of Shenyang was experiencing

  • a fairyland or doomsday.

  • Those things are easily confused, I know.

  • You see, the pollution there was so bad,

  • they couldn't tell.

  • And if you think it's just China's problem, it's not.

  • Like wealthy officials fleeing corruption charges,

  • China's air pollution is also flying across the Pacific and landing in America.

  • In fact, nearly a third of San Francisco's air pollution comes from China.

  • China's air pollution is bad--and it's probably only going to get worse.

  • But why am I telling you this? Let me show you...

  • Here are 10 images to help you understand China's doomsday air pollution.

  • Number 10.

  • This is downtown Beijing.

  • The China Central Television Headquarters.

  • Can't see anything?

  • This is what it looked like on a slightly better day,

  • and this is what it's supposed to look like--after the Communist Party ordered hundreds of factories

  • to close down to clear the skies ahead of the 2008 Olympics. That was temporary.

  • Number 9.

  • This was Beijing's air pollution two years later, in November 2010.

  • That's after the US Embassy accidentally called Beijing's pollution "crazy bad" on Twitter.

  • Apparently that was a joke embedded in the embassy's air monitoring program.

  • If the level of PM 2.5 pollution went beyond the most "hazardous" level of 500--

  • which was so outrageous it wasn't supposed to ever happen--

  • it would Tweet "crazy bad." Oops.

  • Number 8.

  • So you know how a pollution level of 500 is hazardous,

  • and above that is crazy bad?

  • Well this was the northeastern city of Shenyang on Sunday.

  • It reached 1,400.

  • That's 50 times higher than what the World Health Organization considers safe to breath.

  • And you really shouldn't be driving in this.

  • Number 7.

  • Would you want to eat food grown on this farm?

  • Some Chinese scientists have said air pollution is so bad it's like a nuclear winter.

  • Because it's affecting plants' ability to grow.

  • Number 6.

  • Did you know that 9 out of every 10 Chinese cities fail the government's own pollution

  • standards?

  • But, hey at least you can enjoy a beautiful sunrise in Jilin.

  • Number 5. Part of the reason China's air is so bad is

  • they burn almost as much coal as the rest of the world combined.

  • 66 percent of China's energy comes from it.

  • But who knew coal could be so colorful?

  • Number 4.

  • You know how people say you can see the Great Wall of China from space?

  • Well that's not true. But you know what you can see from space? Beijing's smog.

  • The gray part is the smog. It's 600 miles across.

  • Number 3

  • There's an old Chinese saying:

  • "In the sky, there is heaven. On earth, there is Hangzhou and Suzhou."

  • Well, this is Hangzhou.

  • Like I said, it was an old saying.

  • Number 2

  • Ah, the beautiful Saint Sophia Cathedral in Harbin.

  • Illumined by an angelic halo... of smog.

  • And Number 1.

  • With pollution so bad, Chinese citizens are taking things into their own hands.

  • Or faces.

  • Since you have to wear facemasks so often thee days, why not be fashionable?

  • I wonder if I could get my own custom design?

  • Now I know this is all pretty scary. But just relax, take a deep breath and

  • on second though,

  • no, maybe don't do that.

  • So what do you think about the doomsday levels of air pollution in China?

  • Leave your comments below and be sure to subscribe for more episodes of china Uncensored.

  • Once again I'm Chris Chappell, see you next time.

Don't worry! Everything's fine!

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B1 US pollution air pollution china air doomsday beijing

10 Images Show China's Doomsday Air Pollution | China Uncensored

  • 33 6
    噹噹 posted on 2016/02/08
Video vocabulary

Keywords

pretty

US /ˈprɪti/

UK /'prɪtɪ/

  • adjective
  • Attractive in a delicate way without being truly beautiful
  • Being attractive to the eye in a simple way
  • Pleasing; fine
  • Pleasant or nice.
  • other
  • To make (something) more attractive or appealing
  • adverb
  • To a moderate degree; fairly.
  • Very; to a great degree
  • To some extent; fairly
  • Used to emphasize something, often in a negative way.
  • noun
  • A pretty thing or person
  • A pretty thing.
suppose

US /səˈpoʊz/

UK /sə'pəʊz/

  • conjunction
  • What if
  • verb
  • To imagine or guess what might happen
account

US /əˈkaʊnt/

UK /ə'kaʊnt/

  • noun
  • A record of financial transactions.
  • An advantage
  • Arrangement with a bank to keep your money for you
  • An invoice for things bought
  • A business client.
  • Arrangement whereby you can use online services
  • A customer having a business relationship with a firm.
  • A description, often written, of events; report
  • A reason or explanation for something.
  • An arrangement with a bank to keep your money there.
  • Importance or significance.
  • An arrangement that allows you to use a website or online service.
  • A reason; consideration.
  • A record of financial transactions.
  • A spoken or written description of an event.
  • other
  • To give a satisfactory explanation for something.
  • other
  • Importance; consequence.
  • other
  • Because of.
number

US /ˈnʌmbɚ/

UK /ˈnʌmbə(r)/

  • noun
  • Symbols such as 1, 2, 56, 793
  • Particular song or dance performed during a show
  • Total quantity or amount of things
  • verb
  • To put numbers on things
  • To assign a sequence within a group, series, set
  • To claim to be part of a larger group, series, set
breath

US /brɛθ/

UK /breθ/

  • noun
  • Air you take in and out of your body
  • other
  • The air that you take into your lungs and send out again.
  • The state of being alive.
  • The smell of someone's breath.
level

US /ˈlɛvəl/

UK /'levl/

  • noun
  • Specific height of something
  • Amount of ability you have compared to others
  • A stage in a game.
  • A rank or grade in a hierarchy.
  • A position on a scale of quantity, extent, or quality.
  • The degree or intensity of something.
  • Floor or deck within a building
  • Tool used to determine if something is lying flat
  • verb
  • To aim a gun at someone
  • To destroy a building; flatten an area completely
  • To make things flat or even
  • To make a score equal to another, in sports
  • other
  • To aim (a weapon or object) at a target.
  • To knock down or destroy (a building or area).
  • To make (a surface) flat and even.
  • adjective
  • Being at the same height or value as someone or something else.
  • Having a flat and even surface without slopes or bumps.
  • (Sports) equal to another
  • Being steady and determined (e.g. a voice)
  • other
  • To be honest and straightforward.
bad

US /bæd/

UK /bæd/

  • adjective
  • Not good; wrong
  • Lacking in good morals; evil
  • No longer fresh; spoiled
air

US /er/

UK /eə(r)/

  • noun
  • Mixture of gases around the earth that we breathe
  • A person's manner intended to impress others
  • verb
  • To expose to the outside, to dry or freshen
  • To broadcast a TV or radio show
  • To open a subject to discussion and debate
crazy

US /ˈkrezi/

UK /'kreɪzɪ/

  • adjective
  • Mentally ill; mad
  • Not being sensible or practical
  • Really like someone or something very much
  • noun
  • Person acting in a manner that is strange and odd
coal

US /kol/

UK /kəʊl/

  • noun
  • Dark hard substance from the earth burnt as a fuel
  • A single piece of coal.
  • adjective
  • Of a color similar to that of coal; black.
  • other
  • A black or dark brown combustible mineral substance consisting of carbonized vegetable matter, used as a fuel.
  • The industry involved in the mining and distribution of coal.