China Deploys Drones Against Pollution
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In an effort to identify and crack down on factories that violate China’s green laws, the country’s Ministry of Environmental Protection has turned to an unlikely weapon: drones.
The unmanned aerial vehicles, which are equipped with infrared cameras, can detect whether factories illegally release emissions at times when inspectors aren’t present, according to the ministry. So far its four drones have flown watchdog missions over Beijing, Hebei, Shanxi, and Inner Mongolia—all heavily polluted regions in coal-reliant northern China.