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Download The pollution that hit Hebei province, Beijing and Tianjin in the past week was less severe than last year, monitoring results revealed. From Feb 20 to 26, Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei were shrouded in smog. However, environment-monitoring results from the Chinese Academy of Sciences showed that the average concentration of PM2.5 - fine particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 microns that can lodge in the lungs - was 11 percent less than it was when smog hit the region in spring 2013, and the peak concentration decreased by 16.4 percent. "The concentration of pollutants in the smog decreased by 20 to 30 percent in general over the last year," said Wang Yuesi, a researcher from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Wang was speaking on Saturday at a forum in Beijing held by the Chinese Academy of Sciences to discuss the cause of the smog. The institute monitored the concentration of PM2.5 and other pollutants across the country, with 23 monitoring stations in North China. The comparison was based on data collected in January and February this year and January 2013, when severe pollution lasted nearly a month in North China. Both of these smog events had similar climate conditions, Wang said. "The monitoring results show that the emergency measures taken to cope with air pollution were effective. But the effect may not be so obvious to the general public because the PM2.5 concentration still caused a deterioration in visibility," he said. | 
