In Beijing, the capital of the world’s most populous country and its No. 1 source of planet-warming carbon compounds, Greenpeace China called the thick haze the worst pollution of the year.
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Persistent pollution prompted the authorities to issue the year’s first orange pollution alert – the second highest in the four-tier system – on Sunday.
Under the orange weather alert mechanism, industrial plants are required to reduce or shut down production; construction sites should stop transporting materials and waste and heavy-duty trucks are banned from the roads. The PM2.5 level was 678 micrograms per cubic meter near Tiananmen Square, the Beijing government said.
Pollution readings in parts of the city have reached 24 times the level considered safe by the World Health Organisation.
Tests found coal burning to be to blame for the bulk of the latest pollution surge, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Zhang Dawei, head of the city’s environmental monitoring center.
The public has been warned to take protective measures when engaging in outdoor activities and those who suffer from respiratory diseases are advised to stay indoors.
A woman uses a tablet to take a souvenir photo of the Turret of the Forbidden City shrouded with heavy pollution and fog in Beijing, Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015.
China is estimated to have released between 9 billion and 10 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide in 2013, almost twice as much as the USA and about two-and-a-half times that of the EU. Despite being labelled by WHO as the world’s most polluted city, there’s no protocol in Delhi for warning residents when pollution levels spike in the city. Beijing on Sunday, Nov. 29 issued its highest smog alert of the year following a…
“The air pollution is all-encompassing, and it requires both the government and individuals to shoulder the responsibility to clean up the air”, said Liu Juntang, a businessman whose company develops environmental technology. “But I think that they’re hoping that this climate agreement will bring them cleaner air and better environmental conditions across China”.
Several cities in the northern province of Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, also reported extremely polluted air.
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Heavy smog has persisted in the northern region since last week and might continue until Wednesday, the ministry added.
