Levels of tiny particulates-known as PM 2.5-topped 600 micrograms per cubic meter in Beijing by late afternoon, according to monitoring by the US Embassy and other institutions.
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Residents in northern China have been told to stay indoors after air pollution in Beijing and neighboring regions rose to hazardous levels.
Imagine waking up every morning to a cloud of smog outside your window – pollution so heavy that each day, you wake up and smell the soot in the air.
A man from Shenzhen, Guangdong Province has created a brick out of “smog” after spending 100 days vacuuming the air in Beijing.
Environmental group Greenpeace said on its official Wechat account that air samples showed that Beijing’s air contained heavy metals, including arsenic levels concentrated three times higher than national standards.
Schools in the Chinese capital Beijing have now been ordered to keep kids inside amid very elevated rates of air pollution.
President Xi Jinping met Barack Obama at the Paris climate change talks on Sunday, where he vowed to take “action” on emissions.
She added: “I’m more concerned about the health of my seven-year-old kid”.
More than 2,000 factories in polluting industries have been ordered to suspend work, and schools have been ordered to halt all outdoor activities.
Outside a packed children’s hospital in downtown Beijing, parents and grandparents complained about the smog’s health impact on small children. While city environmental monitors blame an increase in coal burning for the high levels of pollution, the country’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development puts blame on vehicle exhaust. A primary school in the city’s Xicheng district sent a message to parents that classes were canceled Tuesday.
“The government is likely to be handling the pollution, so we should find out the results”.
The pollution is expected to clear on Wednesday when a cold front approaches Beijing.
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Visibility in 17 city centers and surrounding regions is reported to be lower than 500 meters, with some reporting no more than 200 meters, according to statements on the Beijing Meteorological Service website.
