Chengdu's Smog Crisis: A Sad Story of Denial and Inaction

This is the worst thing in Chengdu. I'm telling you, it's not an exaggeration. Sichuan is a basin, and Chengdu is at the bottom of the basin. There's no good way to control air pollution, only rely on the wind. A few years ago, there was only fog, not smog. These are two different things. Fog is naturally produced, it's water vapor. Smog is pollutants and toxic particles. People can't clear the smog. We all know who should do that.

Factories there emit dust and pollutants, it's an ecological disaster. With the arrival of Pengzhou Petrochemical, Chengdu's smog became devastating. When winter comes, it gets dark early, and those polluters will create more exhaust.

For many years, Chengdu's lung cancer incidence rate ranked third in the country, even lower than Hebei. People did nothing. The government turned a blind eye to it. Even arrested people who gathered for air pollution. Years ago, someone was arrested on Chunxi Road, a prosperous street in the city, for sitting quietly with a mask on. Later, people ignored the smog. Don't they know that the particles in the smoke are carcinogenic?

Most of the people here are working hard to make a living, ignoring that smog can cause cancer and will take away their life savings. Millions of people may get lung cancer. It won't kill them right away, but they don't care. Still dreaming, still safe, this is a disaster, but it's happening every day.