Chengdu's Smog Problem: A Catastrophe in Slow Motion

This is the worst thing in Chengdu. Believe me, it's not an exaggeration. Sichuan is a basin, and Chengdu is at the bottom of it. You can't control air pollution here, you just have to hope the wind blows it away. A few years ago, there was only fog, not smog. They're two different things. Fog is natural, it's water vapor. Smog is pollution and toxic particles. People can't clear the smog. We all know who should be doing this. Factories are spewing dust and pollutants, it's an ecological disaster. With the arrival of Pengzhou petrochemical, Chengdu's smog has become catastrophic. When winter comes, it gets dark early, and those polluters create even more waste gas. For years, Chengdu has had the third highest lung cancer rate in the country, even lower than Hebei. People do nothing. The government turns a blind eye. They even arrested people who protested about the air pollution. Years ago, someone on Chunxi Road, the busiest street in Chengdu, got arrested for sitting quietly with a mask on. Later, people just ignored the smog. Don't they know the particles in the smoke are carcinogenic? Most people here are too busy working to care about smog. They're ignoring that it can cause cancer and will cost them their life savings. Millions of people may get lung cancer. It won't kill them right away, but they don't care. They're still dreaming, still safe and sound. This is a disaster, but it's happening every day.