北京逃避不過的嚴重霧霾
Beijing’s infamous smog spiked on Sunday despite draconian measures in surrounding cities to reduce persistent pollution during the winter in northern China.
給北京帶來壞名聲的霧霾上週日捲土重來，儘管周邊城市採取了大刀闊斧的措施來減少中國北方冬季的持續污染。
The thick layer of haze has become a political liability for the ruling Communist party and has driven China’s participation in the Paris climate accord to limit emissions of carbon and other greenhouse gases.
重度霧霾已成爲執政的共產黨的非政治責任，並推動中國參與巴黎氣候變化協定，限制二氧化碳和其他溫室氣體的排放。
An air monitor index released by the US embassy in Beijing breached 600 late on Saturday, a level referred to colloquially as crazy bad because index designers originally thought the city’s pollution would never reach beyond 500.
美國駐北京大使館發佈的空氣監測指數上週六晚突破600點，這個水平通常被稱爲糟糕得令人發瘋，因爲指數設計師最初認爲該市的污染不可能超過500點。
The index has breached that level on multiple winters since the term was first used in 2010, forcing the embassy to adopt a more sober hazardous.
自2010年首次使用這個表述以來，該指數已在多個冬季突破這一水平，迫使美國使館改用比較冷靜的危險一詞。
The British School of Beijing cancelled a Christmas fair, even though it was scheduled to be held indoors.
北京英國學校(British School of Beijing)取消了一個聖誕活動，即使這個活動安排在室內舉行。
Air pollution has become such an obsession for foreigners living in Beijing that international schools compete on the quality of their indoor air.
空氣污染已經成爲旅居北京的外國人如此在意的問題，以至於國際學校在室內空氣質量上展開競爭。
The latest episode comes despite desperate measures.
最新的霧霾是在有關部門已經採取一攬子不惜一切代價的措施的背景下降臨的。
Beijing’s new mayor, Cai Qi, recently relaxed the city’s 2020 target for improved air quality, after his predecessor joked that his head was on the line if he failed to deliver his 2017 targets.
北京新市長蔡奇最近放寬了該市2020年的改善空氣質量目標，此前他的前任曾開玩笑說，要是實現不了2017年空氣治理目標就提頭來見。
Those 2017 targets are unlikely to be met.
現在看來2017年的目標不太可能實現。
The main reason was transfer of pollution from the surrounding provinces, where steel and other heavy industry clusters have seen a resurgence in activity due to retrograde stimulus policies, said Lauri Myllyvirta, who tracks Chinese air pollution for Greenpeace.
主要原因是周圍省份的污染轉移，由於走回頭路的刺激政策，那些省份的鋼鐵和其他重工業活動有所復甦，爲綠色和平(Greenpeace)追蹤中國空氣污染的柳力(Lauri Myllyvirta)表示。
Cities in Hebei, the industrial province that surrounds Beijing, are flailing for a response.
環繞北京的工業大省河北境內的各個城市正忙於迴應。
Shijiazhuang, the Hebei capital that holds the dubious honour of most polluted city on the north China plain this year, last month ordered all steel and cement plants to shut and limited operations at other plants.
河北省會、今年被點名爲華北平原污染最嚴重城市的石家莊，上月勒令所有鋼鐵和水泥廠關閉，並限制其他工廠的運營。
At least three publicly listed pharmaceutical factories announced they would temporarily shut.
至少有三家公開上市的製藥廠宣佈它們將暫時停產。
Baoding, the industrial centre crowned smoggiest city in 2015, has ordered all cars to drive only on alternate days, an order that infuriated citizens.
2015年被評爲霧霾最嚴重城市的工業重鎮保定，已命令所有汽車只能隔天上路，這使市民們憤怒。
The pollution over the past few weeks has reopened the question of whether improvements seen earlier in the year were due to economic factors, or the top-down diktats from Beijing.
過去幾個星期的污染已重新點燃這樣一個問題：今年早些時候看到的空氣改善是由於經濟因素，還是源於北京發出的自上而下的政令？
The sudden surge in pollution since September came after an unusually clear spring and summer for Beijingers.
自9月以來污染突然加劇之前，北京市民度過了一個異常清新的春天和夏天。
Steel mills in nearby Tangshan, the heart of the Chinese steel industry, shut this spring to ensure clear air for a horticultural show.
距離北京不遠的中國鋼鐵工業中心唐山的鋼鐵廠在今年春天關閉，以便爲一個園藝展覽保障清新空氣。
The result was that steel mills in the Yangtze Valley raised production amid a corresponding increase in haze in Shanghai.
其結果是長江流域的鋼鐵廠加大馬力生產，而上海的霧霾出現相應增加。
A sharp rise in coal prices starting in August and renewed economic activity has brought many plants back online that had been temporarily closed.
從8月份開始煤炭價格大幅上漲，經濟活動恢復元氣使得許多此前暫時關閉的工廠重新開工。
Meanwhile an unusually wet autumn and a low pressure weather systems over the eastern seas have pushed the murk from steel plants in the south back up into the North China plain.
與此同時，一個異常潮溼的秋天和東部海域的低氣壓天氣系統將南方鋼鐵廠排放的污染物推回華北平原。
