At 300, residents are told to stay inside.
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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. The PM2.5 level was 678 micrograms per cubic meter near Tiananmen Square, the Beijing government said.
A man looks through the window of a vehicle stranded on a highway between Beijing and Hebei province, China, that is closed because of smog on an extremely polluted day.
Beijing pollution is at hazardous levels right now.
But at Connaught Place, a city centre landmark in New Delhi, people chided the government for failing to minimise the risks to their health from air pollution. Really the causes are broadly the same causes that we see elsewhere in the world: “high-polluting factories, coal-fired power stations, lots of cars on the road”. Most of it is heavy industries, like coal mining, are located in northeastern China.
One of the worst spells of air pollution in recent years is hitting Beijing as negotiators meet in Paris to combat global warming.
The choking pollution was caused by “unfavourable” weather, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said.
The city got off to a good start this year, but a spate of unusually cold days and early snow in November prompted citizens to turn on their winter heating systems and bid farewell to blue skies as the notorious smog rolled in. Humidity and the lack of wind exacerbates the pollution and contribute to the prolongation of the smog.
“I felt like my lungs were blocked”.
Beijing pollution worsens as city promises to clean up its act.
Thick smog is covering Beijing and much of north China on Monday as the worst period of air pollution this year stretches into a fourth day.
As of 10 a.m. on Monday in Beijing, those levels rose to 480 micrograms, according to the World Air Quality Index based in Beijing, China.
China’s smog has repeatedly brought large swathes of the country to a standstill, particularly in the north, forcing airports to cancel thousands of flights, requiring schools to close, and reducing visibility on city streets. The government hasn’t issued warnings, and residents are criticizing officials for not protecting them from the hazardous air.
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“Not only are we working to fix our domestic environmental problems, we have made considerable contributions to addressing worldwide challenges, too”, Chen said, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.
