Beijing to establish smog police force
Beijing is to launch an environmental police force to combat the problem of smog in the city. Officers will carry out street patrols looking for activities that breach pollution regulations, such as outdoor barbecues and rubbish burning. The capital will also close its final coal-fired power plant and will decrease coal consumption by 30% in 2017. Up to 500 factories will be shut and 300,000 vehicles removed from use. A study recently found that poor air quality causes one million deaths each year in China and is a contributory factor in a third of all fatalities in the country’s cities.  

Research puts air pollution on a par with smoking as threat to human health