It remains unclear how Beijing will respond to future airborne smog peaks, but other cities in the region followed its lead this week by issuing their own red alerts as pollution levels climbed even higher than those seen in the capital.
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And paradoxically, the public alert, which also included measures such as shutting down factories and taking half of the city’s cars off the streets with an odd-even license plate system, actually may be a sign of progress.
A man wearing mask visits Temple of Heaven Park during a day of heavy pollution on December 9, 2015 in Beijing, China.
Drivers opting to leave their petrol-powered cars at home were offered free chauffeur-driven rides in the company’s electric cars on Monday through Wednesday, Yang said.
According to a news report from Gizmodo, red alerts are supposed to be issued when air quality levels exceed 300 for three days in a row.
The heavy smog shrouding Beijing this week has proved to be a boon for China’s nascent electric auto market, with some dealers saying inquiries about all-electric models are up by nearly a tenth.
Several shops said they completely sold out the air purifiers.
Many parents complained the sudden closure of schools for three-day which has warranted them to stay back to take care of them and felt schools are better equipped to deal with pollution than homes.
The concentration of PM2.5 pollution, considered the most unsafe to health, stood at 218 micrograms per cubic meter as of 6 a.m. Thursday near Tiananmen Square, according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center.
Others said that the measures inconvenienced ordinary people without doing enough to tackle the real causes of Beijing’s pollution problem. And, as we’re seeing in Beijing lately, that kind of waste isn’t just academic: it dramatically impact the lives of millions of people. Most of the smog is blamed on coal-fired power plants, along with vehicle emissions, construction and factory work. Certainly those most affected by the poor air quality days should hope so.
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Following the issuance of the red-level warning, local authorities in Beijing imposed emergency response plans including suspension of industrial operations and vehicle restrictions.
