Images of Chinese citizens walking the streets of Beijing and other cities with face masks affixed are commonplace, but as bad as it sometimes gets, China’s capital hasn’t maxed out its alert level – until now.
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Until then, people with respiratory problems are warned not to spend too much time outside, and cars with odd and even-numbered license plate will alternate on the roads each day.
Heavy smog in Beijing on 1 December, when a lower level “orange alert” was in force.
Under the alert, schools were advised to voluntarily close unless they had good air filtration systems. Extra public transport was being laid on to help ease the situation. Beijing has ordered the closure of primary and secondary schools, while some government departments and public institutions have been told to consider flexible working hours.
“You have to do whatever you can to protect yourself”, said Li Huiwen, who picked up a supply on the way back from work. Other restrictions are meant to reduce the amount of dust and other particulate matter in the city of 22.5 million people.
It’s the second time this month that notoriously polluted Beijing has experienced a prolonged bout of smog, sending PM2.5 levels in the suburbs as high as 976 micrograms.
Readings of PM2.5 particles climbed above 300 micrograms per cubic meter in some parts of the city Tuesday and were expected to continue rising before the air begins to improve with the arrival of a cold front on Thursday. A forecast of even higher pollution, but lasting only two days, would not trigger the alert. The level of pollution is causing health concerns, as the poisonous particle PM 2.5 is at a concentration 10 times higher than the recommended limit issued by the World Health Organization, according to BBC.
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Beijing’s real time air pollution index yesterday recorded an average of between 200 and 260, a level classified as “very unhealthy”. Beijing’s pollution is largely blamed on coal-fired electricity plants as well as on vehicle emissions and factories. Beijing has pledged that emissions will peak “around 2030”, without saying at what level and implying several years of further increases.
