Red characters posted by their entrances still forlornly proclaim their "grand opening".Last year on a typically smoggy day in Beijing, Li Keqiang, the prime minister, declared "war" on air pollution a problem that has become a national fixation.
Nigeria's parliamentary poll on April 12th was delayed for a day in Warri, the smoggy, garbage-choked oil town where Mr Igbuku lives.
Many of the factories and mills that have polluted rivers or made skies smoggy are state-owned.
Officials have given warning that many more factories could be closed if more drastic measures are needed to clear the (still smoggy) air.Many economists say the disruptions are unlikely to have a lasting impact on economic growth in the city.
When computer models gave him the power to spin up winds on planets of the mind, his first big topic was a study of the net effects of smoggy pollutants in the atmosphere, which cool the planet down, and the carbon dioxide which warms it up.
And, living as I do now in smoggy, log-jammed Delhi, I appreciate this fact.
Like an omen, the smoggy grey dome above the city, caused by the oil fires ignited to defend it, began to clear that day, giving a sight of blue sky again.
In the 1960s and 1970s, the Thames was lined with smoggy docks and power stations.
But it leaves Britain's climate policy in a mess.Carbon taxes or trading schemes, which aim to encourage investment in low-carbon generation by steadily raising the cost of alternatives, are the cheapest way to clean up smoggy economies.
FEW European visitors to Beijing visit its ancient astronomical observatory, perched on a grey stone tower amid smoggy snarls of traffic.
The answer is as clear as the Tianjin skyline on a smoggy day.Consider one indicator: electricity output.
