01/18/2013

Beijing Grapples with Record Air Pollution

10:22 minutes

Beijing smog. Photo by <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/michaelhenley/1072393454/in/photolist-4MGVQ4-4MM8EL-4MM6Fq-2CGisn-2CLCN3-2CGm8r-2CLidj-2CLFrN-2CLfCU-2CLd5q-2CFJZR-2CKaVq-2CG4xa-2CK8ju-2CJZ4u-2YCjAq-2YCthy-2YCihh-2YxXDp-2YCh1E-2YCkSC-2YxVDx-2CEDHz-2CFXQP-2CEAZi-2CLkR5-3zvpiV-2YCz1w-2YDPg7-2CG7z2-2CLzPG-2YxZm2-3zzyBy"target="_blank"Michael Henley/flickr/<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/"target"_blank"CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
Beijing smog. Photo by

Last weekend, air pollution in Beijing reached record highs, raising concerns about the cost of China’s rapid industrialization. David Pettit, of the Natural Resources Defense Council, discusses the pollution problem in China’s capital, and why severe smog can be deadly.

Segment Guests

Jocelyn Ford

Jocelyn Ford is a journalist and filmmaker based in Beijing, China.

David Pettit

David Pettit is a senior attorney and the director at the Southern California Air Program, part of the Natural Resources Defense Council, in Los Angeles, California.

Meet the Producer

About Denise Chow

Denise Chow is a sci-tech editor at Live Science and a former associate producer for Science Friday.