The Shoe Tree

Converse, the American shoe company, sponsored a giant mural featuring the words “Create Together For Tomorrow” which decorates a building in front of the Politechnika metro station in Warsaw, Poland. The mural, designed by landscape architect Dawid Ryski in collaboration with muralist Maciek Polak, was painted with special photocatalytic, smog-eating varnishes which claim to have the same environmental effect as planting 780 trees. Photo: Good Looking Studio.

魔境夢遊：時光怪客 (Alice Through the Looking Glass)

An Air China passenger aircraft flying amid heavy smog over the suburb of 北京 (Běijīng), China, on January 2, 2017. Photo: Reuters/Jason Lee/File Photo.

答案在风中飘荡 (Blowin’ in the Wind)

Or maybe not. A Chinese government-backed study, published last month in the journal Global Change Biology, tracked the growth rates of six aspen trees in 北京 (Běijīng) between 2012 and 2015, when the city was shrouded in one of its densest ozone fogs. The scientists’s conclusions are astonishing: 北京 (Běijīng)’s air pollution helps its trees grow better, faster, and stronger.

北京 (Běijīng)-based artist 王智远 (Wáng Zhìyuǎn) created a 36 foot tall towering tornado sculpture – called “Thrown to the Wind” – from hundreds of plastic containers discarded as trash. Photo: inhabitat.com.

天气预报 (Weather forecasting)

China has already set a record for concentrations of lung-damaging ozone in June, rising 11 percent from the same month last year, but the Ministry of Ecology and Environment warned on Tuesday, July 17, that it expected ozone pollution to be particularly high in the region surrounding 北京 (Běijīng) over the next 10 days.

Buildings are seen amid smog on a polluted day in 北京 (Běijīng), China on April 2, 2018. Photo: Reuters/Stringer.

Moby Dick

Rome, Italy: A lifesize reproduction of two whales emerging from a sea filled with plastic waste has been erected in front of the Pantheon. Greenpeace hopes the installation will raise awareness about pollution in the Mediterranean. Photo: Simone Somekh/AP.

Recycling Art

Fabrice Monteiro is a photographer based in Dakar, Senegal. His series, The Prophecy, focuses on environmental devastation in Senegal, with 10 images featuring models dressed in eerie debris costumes crafted by Senalgese fashion designer Jah Gal/Doulsy, will be on show at Photo Basel 2017 until 18 June. Photos: Fabrice Monteiro.

What it’s like to land on Mars

• 等停停 (Děng Tíngtíng), In China, the water you drink is as dangerous as the air you breathe, The Guardian, June 2, 2017

A rubbish-strewn beach in 安全村 (Ānquán village). China suffers from widespread water pollution after years of unbridled economic growth. Photo: STR/AFP/Getty Images.

Noah’s Ark

Lake Titicaca, Peru: Melinda Quispe walks on the rubbish-strewn shore of Lake Titicaca in the village of Kapi Cruz Grande. The governments of Peru and Bolivia have signed a pact to spend more than $500m to counter the pollution around the lake. Photo: Rodrigo Abd/AP.

Tarzan, Lord of the Jungle

Stefano Boeri, the architect famous for his plant-covered skyscrapers, has designs to create entire new green settlements in a nation plagued by dirty air. [Read more].

• Tom Phillips, “Forest cities”: the radical plan to save China from air pollution, The Guardian, February 17, 2017

南京 (Nánjīng) Green Towers, promoted by 南京 (Nánjīng) 扬子 (Yángzǐ) State-owned National Investment Group Co. Ltd, will be the first Vertical Forest built in Asia. Photo: Stefano Boeri Architetti.

Mitigation of windblown dusts

Tens of thousands of people attend mass protests in 大庆 (Dàqìng), 黑龙江省 (Hēilóngjiāng province), China. They’re demonstrating against the municipal administration for its project to build an aluminum factory in the city without any anti-pollution measures or restrictions.

Blowin’ in the Wind

• Benjamin Haas, Where the wind blows: how China’s dirty air becomes Hong Kong’s problem, February 16, 2017

香港 (Hong Kong) is one of the most densely populated places in the world, but much of its pollution comes across from mainland China. Photo: Dale de la Rey/AFP/Getty Images.

The Unbreathable Lightness of Being

Face masks are already a common sight in Asia. Now, as air pollution worsens, designers are targeting city dwellers in Europe and the U.S. with pricier products. [Read more].

• Morwenna Ferrier, Air pollution masks – fashion’s next statement?, The Guardian, February 14, 2017

One of Swedish startup Airinum’s air mask designs. Photo: The Guardian.

Grey Foggy Morning

Smog in 聊城 (Liáochéng) in eastern China. Reducing carbon emissions is a priority for 北京 (Běijīng)’s leadership, which could influence the global battle against climate change. Photo: Sipa Asia/Rex/Shutterstock.

The Unbreathable Lightness of Being

鄭州 (Zhèngzhōu), China: Passengers walk in the smog at 鄭州 (Zhèngzhōu) East Railway Station. The central meteorological observatory issued a yellow alert of smog in the city with visibility down to below 50m. Photo: VCG/Getty Images.

Si duo faciunt idem, non est idem

Polluted water and trash mingle on the bank of the 黄河 (Yellow River) in 兰州 (Lánzhōu), China. Photo © Aaron Jaffe/Circle of Blue.

Floating Air

A woman wears a mask as she sits on a public bus amid heavy smog in downtown 上海 (Shànghǎi). Millions in China rang in the New Year shrouded in a thick blanket of toxic smog, causing road closures and flight cancellations as 24 cities issued alerts that are expected to last for much of the week. Photo: 阿里宋 (Ālǐ Sòng)/Reuters.

The Unbreathables

开封 (Kāifēng), China: Anti-pollution protesters wearing traditional costumes and contemporary gas masks ride bicycles in the 清明上河园 (Qīngmíng Grand River Park). Photo: Sipa Asia/Rex/Shutterstock.

霾 (Smog)

• Benjamin Haas, China smog: millions start new year shrouded by health alerts and travel chaos, The Guardian, January 2, 2016

Two men play 象棋 (Chinese chess) beside a lake on a heavily polluted day in 北京 (Běijīng) on January 1. Photo: Greg Baker/AFP/Getty Images.

The Back Over the Golden Sands

Ships are suspected of dumping waste upstream on China’s 扬子江 (Yangtze River) before it floats into a key city reservoir Medical waste, broken bottles and household trash are some of the items found in more than 100 tonnes of garbage salvaged near a drinking water reservoir in 上海 (Shànghǎi). [Read more].

• Benjamin Haas, 上海 (Shànghǎi) water supply hit by 100-tonne wave of garbage, The Guardian, December 23, 2016

A tourist surrounded by rubbish on a beach in China. The country has struggled to contain environmental pollution during its long economic boom. Photo: Feature China/Barcroft Media.

Boyle-Breath

北京 (Běijīng), China: Artist 劉勃麟 (Liú Bólín) wears a vest holding 24 mobile phones during a live broadcast about air pollution in the city. Photo: Jason Lee/Reuters.