Near Tiananmen Square in the heart of Beijing, concentrations of PM2.5 – the fine particulates that pose the greatest risk to human health – stood at 650 micrograms per cubic m as of 8 am, according to the local environmental monitoring centre.
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The last time Beijing issued an orange alert was in February 2014.
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 smog alert comes just as world leaders, including Chinese president Xi Jinping and U.S. President Barack Obama, meet in Paris to discuss pollution and climate change. The World Health Organization recommends average 24-hour exposure to PMI of 25 or below.
This combination of photos taken Sunday, Nov. 1, 2015, top, and Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015, bottom, show pedestrians walking past an elevated highway in Beijing amid widely differing levels of air pollution.
Shanghai’s air was also heavily polluted, the second worst level on a six-grade scale, with the PM2.5 reading at 170.4 micrograms per cubic meter as of 12 p.m. yesterday, the city’s Environmental Monitoring Center said on its website.
In Beijing, a city of 22.5 million, the air quality index in some parts of the city soared to 500, its highest possible level.
China’s cities, following decades of economic growth and a widespread surge in vehicle ownership, rate among the world’s dirtiest urban areas.
State-run Xinhua news agency said more than 200 expressway toll gates in east China’s Shandong province were closed due to smog. But the temperature of the mid-level atmosphere tends to rise, leading to less wind.
Authorities blame coal burning for winter heating as a major culprit for the air pollution.
However, the government has not raised any alarm over the current air quality and no advisories have been issued to the public.
“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.
Meanwhile, India’s capital city was also hit with heavy smog over the weekend.
Several cities in the northern province of Hebei, which surrounds Beijing, also reported extremely polluted air.
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Officials say that the heavy smog will continue until Wednesday when a cold front will move in from the west to help disperse the pollutants, allowing Beijingers to once again see more than 100 yards in front of them.
