What an ecological crisis looks like ...

The central business district in Beijing on Monday, when the capital was engulfed in a sandstorm.Credit...Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times

Munge comes to mind here, especially when businesses ramp up to make money while continuing to degrade the environment. A sea change is needed in terms of how to maintain a modern society while protecting the planet becomes key as the existential threat of climate change to civilization continues to accelerate as we speak.

“Beijing is what an ecological crisis looks like,” Li Shuo, the policy director for Greenpeace China, wrote on Twitter.

In an interview, Mr. Li said Monday’s storm was “the result of land and ecological degradation in the north and west of Beijing.” He added that industrial pollutants around Beijing had so far this year exceeded the yearly average of the last four years.

 Along the Third Ring Road near the CCTV tower. Credit... Gilles Sabrié for The New York Times

Any questions?