On what website did you search information about the topic? What kind of website is this (news, social network, video, etc.)?
I searched the information on Sina Weibo, one of the most popular social networking website in China. Sina Weibo provides Micro-blog service not only to main land China, but also to Chinese in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Various parts of the world. Till the end of 2012, the Weibo registered users exceeded a half of billion.
Who is/are the author(s) of the information (experts, journalists, citizens, etc.)?
The authors of the information mainly are citizens and newspaper companies. Occasionally, there is some information posted by government department. Weibo has a verification process that allows celebrities, government department, companies and organizations to verify their identities and make their posts more convincing.
Weibo has a tremendous amount of active users who share their thoughts on the website. Many of their thoughts are pertaining to air pollution. It’s essential for our research to know the public responses to air pollution policies and situations. In addition, there are lots of government departments, government officials that have verified accounts. As a result, Weibo can provide a platform for government and the public to discuss current issues.
1. People in Beijing greatly concerned about air pollution and how severely their health was affected. For example, lots of Weibo post in the time range was related to the AQI number in Beijing published by a national AQI app on Weibo. There are lots of pessimistic responses and complaints when the AQI was off the chart or really high. Multiple newspapers covered the news that lung cancer patient number in Beijing was increased by 60% in last ten years. The newspapers used one specific case where the patient had no smoke history nor genetic causes to show that lung cancer occurrence can be directly linked to severe air pollution. Netizens on Weibo felt very frustrated about the news and concerned about their own health.
2. In January 2013, smog covered Beijing for as long as 25 days and PM 2.5 reached to 1000 μg/m^3 while standard for PM 2.5 is 20 μg/m^3 according to WHO. People in Beijing were desperate to find means to protect themselves from air pollution. The advices people generally received were wearing masks and staying indoors. An Internet company called Wang Qin distributed 3M masks, industrial standard air filter mask against dust, to Beijing residents at airport, universities. According to a Swiss air purifier company, their air purifier IQAir sales increased 1.5 times because of the heavy pollution. Despite of those protection methods against pollution, some of the netizens still feel unsecure about their health. I didn’t find post from government department in response to the serious situation.
3. I saw many posts that netizens tried to understand and analyze Beijing air pollution status and figure out the pollution sources. There were lots of posts that blamed air pollution on poor gas quality of two giant Chinese oil companies, PetroChina and Sinopec that caused increased vehicle emission. Later, the “experts” from oil industry and Energy Research Institute National Development and Reform Commission denied the accusation according to an interview by China Economic Net. There are also other posts that accused fireworks during Chinese New Year or coal burning plants in Hebei Province to be the main source of air pollution in Beijing. Many of the posts weren’t based on fact or valid research and were controversial.
Characterize two trends on the information/posts that you searched.
One trend is people were concerned about air pollution and worried about their health but have no many clues of what they can do to deal with the situation.
Another trend is netizen were trying to figure out what the source of air pollution and come up with plans to deal with the source. 一个趋势是人们关注空气污染，担心自己的健康，但有他们对可以做什么来应对这种情况没有很多线索。
另一个趋势是网民都试图找出空气污染的来源是什么，并拿出方案来处理污染源。
Explain two controversies found in this information.
One controversy as mention above is whether the two oil giants has poor gas quality that resulted in air pollution.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the information?
"In the previous two months, Beijing, Tianjin had the most serious air pollution incidents of the century. According to the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy monitoring statistics, in January this year, Beijing, Tianjin had 5 strong haze pollution incidents. An expert from Peking University said North China is already one of the worst air pollution regions in the world (Beijing News) "
"# Interactive topic # evening peak investigative journalism: Beijing Fourth High School 218 students recently jointly proposed that when air pollution to a certain extent, not only should stop outdoor sports activities preschool and primary school students, but also school need to stop classes according to pollution extent, so that both safeguard student health, and help reduce the rigidity of the private car use. "
“Within the Fifth Ring there were rarely coal fired facilities, and why there will be a peak of sulfur dioxide index at noon?" An important reason for this sudden pollution incidents, is based in Hebei coal emissions of sulfur dioxide night inter converted to sulphate. "Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Atmospheric Physics researcher Yuesi said Beijing city during the day had high values of sulfur dioxide in the air that are mostly from the surrounding parts of Beijing"
I searched the information on Sina Weibo, one of the most popular social networking website in China. Sina Weibo provides Micro-blog service not only to main land China, but also to Chinese in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Various parts of the world. Till the end of 2012, the Weibo registered users exceeded a half of billion.
我是在新浪微博搜索信息的。新浪微博作为在中国最流行的社交网站之一，不仅给中国大陆提供微博客服务，还给香港，澳门，台湾及世界各地的华人。2012年12月底，新浪微博注册用户数超过5亿
Who is/are the author(s) of the information (experts, journalists, citizens, etc.)?
The authors of the information mainly are citizens and newspaper companies. Occasionally, there is some information posted by government department. Weibo has a verification process that allows celebrities, government department, companies and organizations to verify their identities and make their posts more convincing.
信息的作者主要是公民和报纸公司。偶尔，有政府部门会一些信息发布。微博有一个验证过程，使名人，政府部门，企业和组织，验证他们的身份，使自己的微博更有说服力。
Why this website is important for the research?
Weibo has a tremendous amount of active users who share their thoughts on the website. Many of their thoughts are pertaining to air pollution. It’s essential for our research to know the public responses to air pollution policies and situations. In addition, there are lots of government departments, government officials that have verified accounts. As a result, Weibo can provide a platform for government and the public to discuss current issues.
微博有大量的活跃用户在网站上分享他们的想法。他们的很多想法都空气污染相关。 了解市民对空气污染的政策和情况的反应是我们的研究至关重要的环节。此外，也有很多政府部门，政府官员有核实的账户。这样使微博可以为政府和公众提供一个平台，讨论当前的问题。
Which type of information did you search in this website? Did you type any specific keywords and time to search?
The keywords I used in the advanced search are Beijing and air pollution. Time span I typed in is 1/1/2013 to 3/31/2013.
我在高级搜索中搜索的关键词为北京环境污染。我输入的时间跨度是2013年1月1日至2013年3月31日。
Explain three findings of your search.
1. People in Beijing greatly concerned about air pollution and how severely their health was affected. For example, lots of Weibo post in the time range was related to the AQI number in Beijing published by a national AQI app on Weibo. There are lots of pessimistic responses and complaints when the AQI was off the chart or really high. Multiple newspapers covered the news that lung cancer patient number in Beijing was increased by 60% in last ten years. The newspapers used one specific case where the patient had no smoke history nor genetic causes to show that lung cancer occurrence can be directly linked to severe air pollution. Netizens on Weibo felt very frustrated about the news and concerned about their own health.
北京民众十分关注空气污染以及健康会受到多么严重影响。例如，在该时间范围内大量的的微博帖子是有关于由微博上的一个全国空气质量指数App公布的北京的AQI指数。 在AQI指数很高或爆表时有很多悲观的反应和抱怨。多家报纸涵盖一则新闻，在北京的肺癌患者的数量在过去十年中增长了60％。报纸用一个特定的例子，病人有没有硝烟的历史，也不是遗传原因表明，肺癌的发生与严重的空气污染直接有关。微博上网友们对这一消息感到极大的恼怒同时也担心他们自己的健康。
2. In January 2013, smog covered Beijing for as long as 25 days and PM 2.5 reached to 1000 μg/m^3 while standard for PM 2.5 is 20 μg/m^3 according to WHO. People in Beijing were desperate to find means to protect themselves from air pollution. The advices people generally received were wearing masks and staying indoors. An Internet company called Wang Qin distributed 3M masks, industrial standard air filter mask against dust, to Beijing residents at airport, universities. According to a Swiss air purifier company, their air purifier IQAir sales increased 1.5 times because of the heavy pollution. Despite of those protection methods against pollution, some of the netizens still feel unsecure about their health. I didn’t find post from government department in response to the serious situation.
2013年1月，雾霾笼罩了整整25天。空气测量仪记录的指标是每立方米空气中含1000微克微尘(PM2.5)，而世界卫生组织规定的微尘上限为20微克。在北京的人都急于找到方法来保护自己免受空气污染的危害。一般收到的建议让人戴口罩，并留在室内。一家叫网秦的互联网公司向北京市民在机场，大学分配 3M口罩，防止灰尘的工业规格的过滤口罩 。据一个瑞士空气净化器公司说，其空气净化器IQAir因为污染严重销售量增加了1.5倍 。尽管这些保护方法防止污染，一些网友对自己的健康不放心。我没有找到政府部门对严峻的形势回应的微博。
3. I saw many posts that netizens tried to understand and analyze Beijing air pollution status and figure out the pollution sources. There were lots of posts that blamed air pollution on poor gas quality of two giant Chinese oil companies, PetroChina and Sinopec that caused increased vehicle emission. Later, the “experts” from oil industry and Energy Research Institute National Development and Reform Commission denied the accusation according to an interview by China Economic Net. There are also other posts that accused fireworks during Chinese New Year or coal burning plants in Hebei Province to be the main source of air pollution in Beijing. Many of the posts weren’t based on fact or valid research and were controversial.
我看到很多帖子上网友们试图理解和分析北京的空气污染状况，并找出污染源。有很多帖子说北京的空气污染归咎于对两大巨头中国石油企业，中石油和中石化的不达标的石油质量，导致机动车排放的增加。后来，从石油工业和国家发改委能源研究所的“专家”，在接受中国经济网记者采访时，否认这一指控。也有一些微博指责中国农历新年燃放烟花或河北省的燃煤电厂是北京空气污染的主要来源。许多微博都没有基于事实或有效的研究，具有争议。
Characterize two trends on the information/posts that you searched.
One trend is people were concerned about air pollution and worried about their health but have no many clues of what they can do to deal with the situation.
Another trend is netizen were trying to figure out what the source of air pollution and come up with plans to deal with the source.
一个趋势是人们关注空气污染，担心自己的健康，但有他们对可以做什么来应对这种情况没有很多线索。
另一个趋势是网民都试图找出空气污染的来源是什么，并拿出方案来处理污染源。
Explain two controversies found in this information.
One controversy as mention above is whether the two oil giants has poor gas quality that resulted in air pollution.
What three (or more) quotes capture the message of the information?
"In the previous two months, Beijing, Tianjin had the most serious air pollution incidents of the century. According to the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy monitoring statistics, in January this year, Beijing, Tianjin had 5 strong haze pollution incidents. An expert from Peking University said North China is already one of the worst air pollution regions in the world (Beijing News) "
"# Interactive topic # evening peak investigative journalism: Beijing Fourth High School 218 students recently jointly proposed that when air pollution to a certain extent, not only should stop outdoor sports activities preschool and primary school students, but also school need to stop classes according to pollution extent, so that both safeguard student health, and help reduce the rigidity of the private car use. "
“Within the Fifth Ring there were rarely coal fired facilities, and why there will be a peak of sulfur dioxide index at noon?" An important reason for this sudden pollution incidents, is based in Hebei coal emissions of sulfur dioxide night inter converted to sulphate. "Chinese Academy of Sciences Institute of Atmospheric Physics researcher Yuesi said Beijing city during the day had high values of sulfur dioxide in the air that are mostly from the surrounding parts of Beijing"
“在之前的两个月里，京津冀区域出现了本世纪以来最严重的持续空气污染事件，据中国科学院大气物理研究所监测数据统计，今年1月份京津冀共发生5次强霾污染。北京大学专家表示，华北地区已是全球空气污染最严重的地区之一。（新京报）”
“#互动话题#晚高峰新闻调查：北京四中218名学生近日联名提议，当空气污染到一定程度时，不仅应停止学龄前儿童和小学生的户外体育活动，更应分级别停课，这样既保障学生健康，更能减少刚性私家车使用。”
“北京五环内很少燃煤，为什么中午二氧化硫会出现峰值？"本次污染事件突发的一个重要原因，是以河北燃煤排放为主的二氧化硫一夜之间转化成硫酸盐。"中科院大气物理研究所研究员王跃思称，北京城区白天空气中二氧化硫出现高值，大部分来自外地输送”