The unprecedented red alert will be effective from 7 am on Tuesday until 12 noon on Thursday, according to Beijing Emergency Management.
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In an online statement, the Beijing city government ordered all outdoor construction work to stop on red alert days, besides urging schools to close.
Auto use is being halved by allowing only odd or even numbered license plates on the road at one time and heavy vehicles including garbage trucks are banned from the streets.
The restrictions will be in effect until December 10, when a cold weather front predicted by meteorologists is expected to push the smog out of the city.
The city authorities’ decision to issue a red alert has widely been interpreted as a response to pressure from central government, after the decision to leave the alert at amber after last week’s heavy pollution attracted criticism from charities and local residents. If you click on other cities, like NY, the pollution levels are high enough that the site recommends taking it easy with exercise outside.
Together with this, the authorities also introduced a couple of temporary restrictions, meant to reduce the levels of pollution, and help clear the skies. Schools closed and rush-hour roads were much quieter than normal as Beijing’s first-ever red alert…
Rapid industrial growth and vehicle ownership over the past decade or more have led to high levels of pollution in major urban areas and Chinese researches have identified the problem as a major source of unrest.
A grey haze hung heavy over China’s capital on Tuesday after it announced the most severe smog warning under its four-tier system.
“This week in Paris, China is rightfully getting credit for its policies to tackle climate change”, said Law Professor Alex Wang who studies Chinese environmental policy at the University of California.
Kerry said the red alert in Beijing is an example of what the government is facing in terms of public pressure to act.
Beijing’s Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection said that the pollution would cloak the Chinese capital for several days.
The air quality index is very closely linked to levels of PM2.5, although it also takes into account other pollutants. He said the company sold 40 percent more masks than chicken burgers on Tuesday and the number was up eight times compared with the previous week.
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Like Beijing, many cities in the neighbouring provinces of Hebei and Shandong as well as Tianjin Municipality have taken emergency measures.
