This Absurd Video Makes A Great Point About China's Air Pollution

Photo: ChinaFotoPress/Getty Images.
You've never seen a PSA like this before.

The smog and pollution crisis in Beijing and beyond is an ongoing issue for China. In December, Beijing officials declared a "Red Alert" for the smog and schools and some workplaces were closed to keep people from venturing out and breathing in the polluted air. But what if there were a different way to respond to the crisis?

A new PSA from WildAid, a nonprofit conservation group, imagines a world in which people have developed long nose hair to combat the pollution. Because nose hairs filter air pollutants, the idea behind the ad is that people will need more nostril protection as pollution gets worse, GlobalPost explains.

One of the biggest factors contributing to China's air pollution is burning coal, which caused 366,000 deaths in 2013, according to GlobalPost. In all, more than 5.5 million people around the world die from causes related to air pollution each year — more than half of those deaths are in China and India.

However, as WildAid suggests, citizens can still make small differences in their contributions to air pollution (and no, they don't need to grow nose hair to do it). WildAid hopes to increase the percentage of Beijing residents who use bikes on their daily commutes, from 6% to 12%, Vice reports.

"Change air pollution before it changes you," the organization says in its press release for the video. The organization also confirmed to Refinery29 that the video is accessible in China and hasn't been censored. "The PSA is widely available in China in the same format that we've released internationally," Andrew Harmon, WildAid's communications director, told Refinery29.

While the imagery paints a grim picture, China's environment minister, Chen Jining, said earlier this month that the country is improving its efforts to fight the air pollution, Reuters reports. According to the minister, 2016 has seen improvement in China's smog crisis, a good sign for those of us who prefer keeping our nose hairs trimmed.