My Community Matters Competition | SBS:
My Community Matters is about celebrating the diversity of Australian communities and stories which contribute to an inclusive society.
We are providing Australians with the chance to share their story with the Prime Minister in person on Australia Day 2013, as well as have their story published on the SBS website.
All you need to do is submit your 90 second video.
Photo Damian Kelly
ACTION OF THE DAY
A MAJOR national bank has been forced to remove more than 100 misleading out of order signs from its ATMs after being targeted by anti-coal activists.
A MAJOR national bank has been forced to remove more than 100 misleading out of order signs from its ATMs after being targeted by anti-coal activists.
A score of ANZ Banking Group machines sprawled across six capital cities were plastered with "out of order" signs on Sunday after campaigners launched their latest bid to draw attention to the bank's funding of the coal industry.
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ReplyDeleteMy community matters.
ReplyDeleteWonder how Beijingers feel about that?
Toxic air has blocked out the sun, reduced visibility to 200 metres and left 20 million people choking in the Chinese capital.
Monitors at the United States Embassy in Beijing’s inner east said the concentration of airborne PM 2.5 particulates reached 845 micrograms per cubic meter late on Saturday afternoon, before falling below 700 after midnight.
These particles, 2.5 microns in diameter or smaller, are considered the most harmful to health because they can penetrate easily into human tissue.
The peak reading is roughly 35 times higher than guidelines issued by the World Health Organisation
A reading above 100 is considered dangerous for sensitive groups while readings above 300 are classed as “emergency conditions” which are potentially “hazardous” for anyone who breathes it.
Residents could be seen grimacing after inhaling mouthfuls of air that they variously described as tasting like burning tires, industrial cleaning chemicals and concentrated car exhaust.
Others squinted into an airborne sludge, complaining of sore eyes, before hurrying indoors.
A Lancet study published last month said a record 3.2m people died worldwide from air pollution in 2010, four times the number a decade earlier, with 1.2 million of those deaths in East Asia.
This ranked pollution for the first time in the world's top 10 list of killer diseases, mostly because of vehicle exhaust.
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Until recently the Chinese Government measured but refused to release PM 2.5 particulates, publishing only the larger and less dangerous PM 10.
Many online commentators and some analysts have questioned whether the official readings have been rigged, given the frequency with which readings have been recorded just within the level that it calls a “blue sky day”.
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The air tastes of coal dust and car fumes, two of the main sources of pollution, says a BBC correspondent.
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WHO guidelines say average concentrations of the tiniest pollution particles - called PM2.5 - should be no more than 25 microgrammes per cubic metre.
Air is unhealthy above 100 microgrammes. At 300, all children and elderly people should remain indoors.
Official Beijing city readings on Saturday suggested pollution levels over 400. Unofficial reading from a monitor at the US embassy recorded 800.
Once inhaled, the tiny particles can cause respiratory infections, as well as increased mortality from lung cancer and heart disease
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INTERESTING OUR FRIENDS AT "THE AUSTRALIAN" DID NOT REPORT THE HIGHER LEVELS AND MENTIONED "FOG" MORE THAN "SMOG"
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The Australian also said a reading of 100 was good,which clearly it isn't.
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