Half of Beijing’s private cars were ordered off the streets yesterday and many construction sites and schools closed after authorities in the smog-shrouded capital responded to scathing public criticism with their first red alert for pollution.
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Along with limiting cars to driving every other day depending on the last number of their license plate, a raft of other restrictions will seek to reduce the amount of dust and other particulate matter in the city of 22.5 million people.
Under the red alert, all heavy vehicles are banned, 30 percent of vehicles are taken off the roads, most schools are closed, businesses are urged to implement flexible working hours and large-scale outdoor activities should be cancelled.
According to the BBC, as of Tuesday 07:00 local time, the US Embassy in Beijing reported via an air pollution monitor that the city’s levels of PM 2.5, a highly poisonous chemical found in the air, were at a high with 291 micrograms.
Days of heavy smog prompt the issuing of China’s highest level of pollution alert. The alert took effect earlier today and will stay in place until midday on Thursday, according to the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.
An “orange alert”, officially the second-highest alert level of the city’s four-step system, had been called last week for the first time this year. However, those had initially been forecast to last three days or less, so they did not trigger a red alert. The pollution index reached 440 when measured contained in the respiratory ward, almost 20 times the World Health Organization’s advisable level.
China’s smog endemic is at its worst in the winter when an increased amount of greenhouse gas emissions come from the burning of coal for electricity and heating.
Nonetheless some social media commenters said the measures were not enough.
“This measure reflects that the government, at least, has the courage to face this problem”, said Ma Jun, director of the Institute of Public and Environmental Affairs, a Chinese environmental NGO, referring to the red alert.
Beijing made global headlines during the December Paris climate change talks when its air quality went off most scales with a PM2.5 reading of 678 near Tiananmen Square. “Children are particularly vulnerable to unsafe levels of air pollution”.
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The state of pollution in China’s capital city has reignited the debate over whether the government has the ability to tackle air quality problems despite repeated statements from leaders that cleaning up the environment in the country is a top priority.
