It’s fair to say that China isn’t exactly known for good air quality. But a recent spate of air pollution in northern China that nearly shut down a city of 11 million has put a spotlight on the problem, as well as China’s reliance on coal, which provides 70 percent of its energy and is a big contributor to the country’s pollution woes.
Verbalisti
airpocalypse
n. Extreme air pollution caused by a combination of smog, dust, and weather. Also: air-pocalypse. [air + apocalypse]
Example Citations:
Following the “airpocalypse” in the city of Harbin this week, a question now hovers in the minds of many residents across northern China. It was summed up in a headline that ran on Thursday with a commentary in People’s Daily, the Communist Party mouthpiece: “In this season of central heating, will PM 2.5 drop?”
—Edward Wong, “With Winter Ahead, Can China’s Smog Get Anything But Worse?,” The New York Times, October 24, 2013
The “airpocalypse” injected a new urgency into local debate about the environment—and produced a green-policy frenzy a few months later.
—“The East is grey,” The Economist, August 10, 2013
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