Is China's pollution its Chernobyl?

It was not even three weeks ago that I blogged about the unheard of, off-the-charts, pollution levels in China.      Looks like it has not eased up much to make life better:

Dangerously high pollution levels have shrouded Beijing in smog for the second time in about two weeks, forcing airlines to cancel flights because of poor visibility and prompting the city government to warn residents to stay indoors.
The outlines of buildings in the Chinese capital receded into a white mist as pedestrians donned face masks to guard against the thick, caustic air.

Ouch!

The new year--the year of the snake--is only ten days away, and there will be that tremendous volume of vacation traffic.  I shudder, even from the safety of my home, thinking about a traffic jam even half as bad as that horrendous one that lasted for days on.

People are talking about it.  Yes, the Chinese people are!

Public debate over the smog has increased in recent months, with state media taking an active part.
In an editorial on Tuesday, China Daily said that Beijing will not become a liveable city unless it "improves its living environment".
"Of all the things that need improving, cleaner air will be at the top of many people's wish list," it said in a piece that looked at challenges for incoming Mayor Wang Anshun.

A new set of leaders. A humongous problem about which people are not willing to keep quiet.  Could this possibly set the stage for some serious reforms in China?

I am thinking of a parallel of sorts, triggered by this article in Slate:

Fewer than six years elapsed between the meltdown at Chernobyl and the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union—six years marked by suspicion of government, dissatisfaction with public safety, and demands for greater transparency. Could Chernobyl have caused the first, most fundamental crack in the Soviet state and led to its collapse?

An interesting question linking Chernobyl and the Soviet Union.

According to Gorbachev, the Chernobyl explosion was a “turning point” that “opened the possibility of much greater freedom of expression, to the point that the system as we knew it could no longer continue.” Gorbachev introduced his policy of glasnost, or “openness” of ideas and expression, not long before the Chernobyl explosion. It was his remedy for widespread censorship and government secrecy. To Gorbachev, Chernobyl proved the wisdom and necessity of glasnost. The explosion and attendant tumult, he claims, “made absolutely clear how important it was to continue the policy of glasnost.”

Interesting, right?  What I liked even better in that article is the following observation:

Chernobyl, then, represented a fundamental shift in the relationship between the Soviet citizenry and the state. Before the explosion, most Soviets were not discontented dissidents; they believed in the Soviet system, forgave its flaws, and hoped for a better future within its confines. But after Chernobyl, the system seemed potentially unredeemable—and actively dangerous. In the early days of glasnost, stories of Stalin’s mass murders decades earlier slowly bubbled to the fore, but those generally receded, so far removed were they from everyday life. After Chernobyl, though, every citizen’s safety was at stake.

The uncontrolled and growing pollution--not only of the air, but water and the soil, too--could this become China's Chernobyl that will trigger a glasnost?

I turned to my favorite China-watcher: James Fallows. I hoped that he might have some comments there on the pollution crisis and how it might affect the legitimacy of the state.  He didn't have anything on the political dimension, but has a lot about the growing worries over the public health aspects.  Fallows writes:

I do know that the pollution level in China is terrible; that (even) the Chinese press is sounding the warning about the effects; and that in other parts of the world toxins have of course been shown to cause physical and mental defects and diseases. This is a very big problem in China, perhaps even bigger than people there yet know.

Fallows also has this photo there:

Here's a picture posted on Twitter just now from a friend in Beijing, showing the view from the 30th floor out toward our former neighborhood.

Ouch!