Citizens, particularly the middle class, are at the forefront of holding polluting companies to account in the court of public opinion. Citizens are also becoming active critics of the government’s lack of control and motivation to tackle environmental degradation, first taking to the internet to pour out their disappointment, but more recently taking to the streets to protest. Smartphone applications and handheld devices allow citizens to monitor and track pollution levels in their neighbourhood, providing an alternative source to official monitoring and democratising environmental data. Some commentators have begun to talk of a nascent citizen science emerging in China, which is explained in Box 5.
Citizen science is when citizens participate in scientific data collection. Their results can feed directly into scientific research, for example, climate models. These models can further engage the public by feeding back to them the results and uses of their data collection through public meetings. The interest in public data collection in China has been facilitated not only by smartphones and the internet, but also by the lack of transparency in the Chinese Government. In 2011, the US Embassy placed an air quality monitor on the roof of its Beijing Embassy in Chaoyang District, and each day tweeted the reading for levels of PM2.5 particulates (small enough to enter the lungs and even the bloodstream). This revealed that the air quality was much worse than the government was saying. This led many citizens to begin to monitor air quality themselves using equipment in backpacks, kites and smartphone apps. Citizen science brings climate science up close and personal, and enables people to become actively involved in environmental conservation.
Allow about 10 minutes
You can check out the latest tweet for the reading from the monitor on the roof of the US Embassy in Beijing: https://twitter.com/beijingair. Here’s an example of what it may look like.
Reading the first tweet in Figure 18:
The Chinese Ministry of Environmental Protection provides its own air quality data for cities throughout China and you should be able to find this information by using a search term such as ‘air quality Chinese cities’.
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