沙没北京?

The Focal Point of Attention: Beijing in Crisis of Sand

6月17日是“世界防治荒漠化和干旱日”。而在两个月前的4月17日,北京出现了建国以来最为严重的降尘天气,30万吨沙尘一夜之间如黄雨般洒向这个被称为国际化大都市的千年古都,即使对沙尘暴见怪不怪的北京市民也着实下了一跳,而正处旅游高峰期的来京游客则是真正欣赏到了早有耳闻的“沙尘春景”,驻华使馆的外交官和旅居北京的“老外”们也找到了多年以后“北京记忆”的谈资。无独有偶,或许是老天有意要点化国人,当天也正好是全国第六次环保大会开幕的日期。在漫天浮尘中走来的国务院总理温家宝,以沉重而严肃的口吻说:“同志们,我们不能闭门开会。会场外,北京正出现严重的降尘天气。这虽然有气候的因素,但也反映出环境问题的严重性。”问题是,作为中国政治文化中心的北京,“首都”甚至已经被提到“首都学”的高度上,其对生态的重视不可谓不重,对环保的投入不可谓不多,但为何一边是工作报告和宣传报道中环境质量越来越好,而另一边又在现实中饱受环境恶劣之苦呢?这场沙尘的背后究竟隐藏着怎样的生态危机?

On 17th.April, 300,000 tons of sand and dust, which looked like a fall of yellow rain, arrived Beijing. Even those inhabitants that had been living with sandstorm for years were astonished, for this was the most serious sand fall since the People's Republic of China was founded. Beijing government had invested a lot in environmental protection for years, but in fact, the environment is not as good as reported. A criti- cal ecologic crisis is hidden behind the fall of sand.