A nearly opaque plume of haze snaked through eastern China on October 20, 2007. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite took this picture the same day. This image shows thick haze hugging the slopes of the Taihang Shan Mountains as it pushes north toward Beijing. Just south of the city, however, the haze veers off to the east, blowing over Bo Hai.
The haze likely results from industrial and vehicular emissions as China struggles to balance economic growth with a healthy environment. According to news reports, lung cancer rates in China rose 26.9 percent in males and 38.4 percent in females between 2000 and 2005, and air quality was expected to pose the greatest challenge to athletes in the 2008 Olympics.
NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. The Rapid Response Team provides daily images of this region.
