Airpocalypse Now at the YRC!

28 Mansions of Chinese Astronomy

Greetings, hello and welcome back the the Yellow River Chronicles!  This week's column includes a stunning array of meteorology, astronomy and ecological sciences so we are going to get right to it, with none of the traditional window dressing, prefacing and arbitrage that traditionally gums up the first paragraph or two of the YRC.

We were pleased to receive, from an active YRC correspondent, the following list of cosmic events that are not to be missed in calendar year 2013:

You will notice that the next celestial wonder will be Comet PANSTARRs zipping by in March.  You can actually get detailed instructions on how to view it at EarthSky, a very cool site:  Click for Instructions.

However, this may not be so for the +1 billion or so citizens of the major cities of the People's Republic as we enter what is now being called the Airpocalypse.  Since this winter, China's cities have been racking up "beyond the index" readings of air quality.  Air quality index readings list a "hazardous" level of 300 micrograms per cubic metre, and Beijing  the poster-child for poor air quality, had days where the readings spiked at +900 mpcm this winter.

Chart courtesy of Bloomberg

Things have gotten so smoky, Bloomberg has prepared a chart that shows it is healthier to breathe the air in an airport smoker's lobby that in Beijing.

Shanghai, home of the YRC executive offices, is never one to be second to the evil older brother Beijing.

Shanghai civil authorities have now released an air quality mascot to help us keep track of air quality in a friendly, cartoony, citizen friendly, way.

Yes, the scale is the same as the readings mentioned above, so the recent readings of 900 in Beijing would be nearly 3x the tear inducing levels of 300 in the Shanghai chart.  MMmuuuuuhhhahaahahaahahahahhhahahahahhaaaa!

So what this means, dear readers, is that there may be no celestial sighting in the Year of the Snake here in the 'Hai.  We know that the Chinese have a lunar calendar and a Moon festival and a famous poem, so we know that have, at some time in the past, been able to see the sky.

One of the most famous Chinese poems, by Li Bai around 700 AD is about the moon:

静夜思   A Quiet Night Thought

床前明月光   In front of my bed is the bright moonlight.

疑是地上霜   I doubt if it was the frost on the ground.

举头望明月   I lift my head to look up at the August Moon,

低头思故乡   Lowering my head to think about my hometown.

However, here is the current line-up for celestial viewing in the "Hai.

March:  PANSTARRS?  Forgettaabbbbbouuddddiit.
April:   Lunar Eclipse?  We're talking TOTAL eclipse here, folks.
August:  Perseid meteor showers?  Nope!  Took a bath. Sorry. Maybe tomorrow.
November:  ISON?  Not tonight, darling.

So, the YRC staff will sadly pack up our telescopes if we are in Shanghai for the weekend. We can always head out to parts of the countryside where the air is still clear and sweet as vodka on the rocks and the lunar viewing is as fine as Li Bai's.  But if we are in the cities...we will hold our breath.

As a deep irony moment, here are two photos.  One is from Beijing a few weeks ago, the other is a shot from the classic science fiction film "Blade Runner" which depicts Los Angeles in the year 2020.  Take your pick!  After all, it's only seven years away.