The World Health Organization (WHO) considers only 25 micrograms to be a safe level.
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The alert level was raised on the same day that Environmental Minister Chen Jining claimed that China had already met the environmental targets for pollution reduction outlined in their 12th five-year plan six months ahead of schedule, according to Chinese new agency Xinhua.
As a result of the alert, the authorities ordered kindergartens and primary schools to stop all outdoor excises, and recommended that the elderly and the sick stay indoors.
The city reported the level of tiny PM2.5 particles in the air to be more than 600 micrograms per cubic meter late Monday afternoon. Experts say this could fuel more dramatic sea level rises threatening China’s most populated regions. Also, the coal-fired boilers being used in the heating season are pumping more pollutants into the air and causing severe air pollution, the ministry said.
Satellite imagery shows thick brown smog wafting east over China under high clouds.
Beijing’s severe pollution is expected to last until a cold front arrives Tuesday, the city’s environmental protection bureau said on its website.
Beijing’s small-particulate matter readings topped 500 micrograms per cubic meter on Monday, a reading scores of times beyond safety standards in the United States and Europe.
In the past, authorities have shut down factories and pulled half of the vehicles off the roads to curb pollution. But, as the Guardian reports, these measures are usually thought to only come into effect when the city is hosting major events.
The capital of the world’s most populous nation was blanketed in hazardous, choking smog as climate change talks began in Paris, where China’s leader is among the participants. The government hasn’t issued warnings, and residents are criticizing officials for not protecting them from the hazardous air. Obama recently revealed he was “optimistic” a positive outcome would be reached.
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China’s chief negotiator Su Wei said on Sunday that “international cooperation” was needed to reach an agreement by the conference’s conclusion on December 11. But Paris police said 317 people were detained later Sunday after an unauthorized protest ended with cops firing tear gas at protesters.
