奇葩说

How technology boosts Beijing's air pollution governance_我的网站

同床异梦

A | 1月15日，据外媒报道，每天的每一秒，你都会受到来自宇宙深处数万亿次原子粒子的攻击。

B | 它们在宇宙飓风中穿过你的身体，以接近光速的速度轰击。

This photo taken on July 10, 2026 shows a data-driven environmental governance system, known as the innovative regulation-monitoring-inspection linkage model, showcased at the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center in Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Sun Suying)Beijing's blue skies have become a visible sign of the city's progress in tackling air pollution, and behind that progress, digital technologies are playing an increasingly important role.
In 2025, Beijing recorded 311 days with good air quality and only one heavily polluted day, compared with 58 heavily polluted days in 2013, when the city officially began releasing PM2.5 monitoring data. The annual average PM2.5 concentration, a key indicator of air quality, fell from 89.5 micrograms per cubic meter in 2013 to 27 micrograms per cubic meter in 2025, a decline of nearly 70 percent.
The progress has drawn international attention. The United Nations Environment Programme has highlighted Beijing's experience in improving air quality as a model for other cities.
According to experts at the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, the cleaner air is the result of a comprehensive system integrating environmental monitoring, scientific analysis, policymaking, regional cooperation and law enforcement -- with digital technologies now woven into every link of that chain.
MORE TARGETED APPROACH
Effective governance begins with accurate monitoring. Beijing has established a multi-level air-quality monitoring network. Figures show 35 standard monitoring stations across the city continuously measure six major pollutants, while more than 1,000 compact sensors deployed across communities and townships provide more detailed information on local air-quality variations.
The monitoring system was gradually built by the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center, one of China's earliest ecological and environmental monitoring institutions, responsible for monitoring Beijing's air, water, noise, soil environments and ecosystems.
The center has developed an analytical system that can identify around 125 components of PM2.5, covering most of its composition and helping researchers trace pollution sources.
"Source analysis helps us identify the major contributors to pollution at different stages, providing a scientific basis for policymakers to target key emission sources," said Li Yunting, technical director at the center.
Coordinated by the Beijing Municipal Ecology and Environment Bureau, the center has conducted four rounds of PM2.5 source analysis studies with other institutions, with results released in 2014, 2018, 2021 and 2025.
The latest analysis showed that regional transport contributed 57 percent of Beijing's PM2.5 pollution. Among local sources that accounted for the remaining 43 percent, vehicle emissions and residential sources represented the largest share of pollution, a distinctive characteristic of a major international metropolis.
The monitoring results have provided scientific support for a series of pollution-control measures. For example, Beijing has promoted new-energy vehicles to reduce transport emissions and adopted advanced techniques, including air-supported membrane structures, to control dust emissions. Meanwhile, coal combustion pollution, once a major contributor, has almost been eliminated and is no longer listed among the main sources, reflecting broader national efforts to reduce coal consumption, promote clean energy and upgrade heavily polluting industries.
With PM2.5 concentrations now at relatively low levels, further gains in air quality will depend on more targeted, science-driven approaches.
This photo taken on July 10, 2026 at the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center in Beijing, capital of China, shows the changes in the annual average concentration and spatial distribution of PM2.5 in Beijing from 2013 to 2025. (Xinhua/Sun Suying)

This photo taken on July 10, 2026 at the Beijing Municipal Ecological and Environmental Monitoring Center in Beijing, capital of China, shows the changes in the annual average concentration and spatial distribution of PM2.5 in Beijing from 2013 to 2025. (Xinhua/Sun Suying)
SMARTER ENVIRONMENTAL GOVERNANCE
Beyond monitoring pollution, Beijing has built a data-driven environmental governance system that links monitoring, regulation and enforcement in a closed loop from detection to action and follow-up evaluation.
Developed by the center and known as the innovative regulation-monitoring-inspection linkage model, the system integrates artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, satellite remote sensing and vehicle-mounted monitoring technologies to pull together environmental data from multiple sources onto a unified platform.
"The system brings information that was once scattered across different departments onto a single platform," said Zhang Likun, director of the smart system division at the center, adding that this enables off-site enforcement and joint cross-sector actions involving housing, water resources and transportation, significantly improving the efficiency and precision of environmental management.
Using more than 30 intelligent algorithms, the platform automatically analyzes data and identifies potential pollution risks, based on which monitoring staff identify the most pressing problems and forward them to enforcement departments.
The approach has already drawn international attention. Clean Air Asia, an international nongovernmental organization focused on improving air quality across Asia, featured the system as a representative case study in its "China Air 2025" report. The model was also presented at the 2026 Better Air Quality Conference and recognized with the Certificate for Clean Air Best Practice Sharing.
China has integrated ecological conservation into its modernization drive. As the country speeds up efforts under the Beautiful China Initiative, Beijing's experience demonstrates how technology can support more precise, coordinated and sustainable environmental governance.
。它们来自整个天空，很容易在白天或晚上穿越地球的大气层。然而，我们并没有意识到这一切，似乎是无害的。到底发生了什么？这些微小的电中性粒子叫做中微子。1934年，著名的美籍意大利物理学家恩里科·费米提出了这个术语。在意大利语中，“中微子”的字面意思是“微小的电中性粒子”。中微子的概念实际上是物理学家试图解释一种奇怪的核反应。有时有些元素是不稳定的。如果它们单独存在很长一段时间，它们就会分裂并转化为其他元素。

C | 准确地说，它们比元素周期表上的其他元素要轻。此外，电子在转变过程中产生。

D | 20世纪20年代，物理学家通过对这些衰变过程的仔细观察和分析，发现了一些能量守恒的小现象。

E | 换句话说，过程开始时的能量略大于结束时的能量。

F | 从数学上讲，这是没有意义的。真奇怪！一些物理学家假设存在一个全新的粒子。这些粒子携带着缺失的能量。它们很小，很轻，没有电荷。

G | 它们可以悄悄地避开探测器的观察。

H | 用了几十年的时间证明中微子的存在，这些微小粒子的神秘性是显而易见的。1956年，中微子被归类为一类已知的、测量过的、并被结果证实的粒子，事情变得更加奇妙。最合适的“味觉”问题出现在μ子的发现上。有趣的是，当中微子的概念被提出时（20世纪30年代），μ介子也被发现了。μ子几乎和电子一样带电和旋转。它的特点是它的质量大约是电子的200倍，所以可以想象它是一个“加重的”电子。μ介子参与特定类型的反应，但通常不会持续很长时间。由于μ介子的尺寸很大，因此非常不稳定，并且很快（1到2微秒）衰变为较小的粒子。物理学家已经对这个过程了解很多了，但它与中微子的故事有什么关系呢？物理学家已经注意到，表明中微子存在的衰变反应总是产生一个电子，而不是μ子。在其他反应中，μ子出现，而不是电子。为了解释这些发现，物理学家推测某些中微子（不是其他类型的中微子）在某些衰变反应中总是与电子配对，而μ子必须与一些未发现的中微子配对。毕竟，电子“友好”中微子不能解释对μ介子事件的观察。搜索一直持续到现在。到1962年，物理学家终于锁定了第二类中微子。

I | 起初它被称为中子，但物理学家最终选择了一个更合理的术语，μ介子中微子，因为它总是在反应中与μ介子成对出现。

J | 有两种中微子被证明是存在的。

K | 自然界还有什么惊喜吗？1975年，斯坦福线性加速器中心（2008年改名为SLAC国家加速器实验室）的研究人员筛选了大量数据，以揭示存在质量大于电子和μ子的基本粒子：τ子。这个粒子的质量是电子的3500倍，它是一个相当大的粒子！所以问题出现了：对于这三种粒子，电子，μ子和μ，除了电子和μ子中微子之外，还有对应于μ的中微子吗？它可能存在，也可能不存在。可能只有两个或四个中微子。也许有17种…自然从来没有完全满足我们的期望，所以现在没有理由得出结论。几十年来，物理学家们通过大量的实验和观察来说服自己，第三中微子应该存在。但直到千禧年，费米实验室的一项特殊实验才最终成功。2000年7月，甜甜圈实验合作项目宣布了中微子的发现。那么，为什么我们如此关心中微子呢？从第二次世界大战到现在，我们已经追了70多年了？为什么一代又一代的科学家对这些微小的电中性粒子如此着迷？原因是中微子继续超出我们的预期。很长一段时间，我们甚至不知道它们是否存在；很长一段时间，我们确信它们根本没有质量，直到实验结果告诉我们这些微小的粒子一定有质量。它们有多少质量仍然是物理学家正在探索的问题。