A report out in mid-February by the Beijing-based Social Science Academic Press and the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences ranked the Chinese capital as the second-worst out of 40 global cities for its environmental conditions.

Shanghai fared only marginally better. The official Chinese report went as far as to describe Beijing as "barely suitable for living" and after last week's six-day smog fest, one wouldn't argue against that.

It's estimated that between 350,000 and half a million people die prematurely as a result of air pollution here in China every year and cancer rates are shooting up like never before.

All of that, of course, has been blamed on factory emissions and the toxins these chemical plants and steel productions pump into our air round the clock every day, and many blame central and local governments' inertia and incompetence in enforcing their policies in cutting emissions. Just earlier this week, a drone to disperse smog was unveiled which would spray chemicals into the air, causing air particles to freeze and then dropping to the ground. But that's only a solution to the smog--rather than tackling the root causes of it.

- Jennifer Turner, Director, China Environment Forum

- Xuemei Bai, Professor and Researcher, Human ecology & urban environment, Australian National University