“For the first time ever, they’ve closed down, all or most all of the schools in the city here…”, said English teacher Jonathan Fredrickson. Since relocating to Shanghai, our boys have never worn their tiny teddy-bear-decorated face masks, created to protect their lungs from Beijing’s occasional airport-smoking-lounge air. On more polluted days, schools have been known to hold their recesses indoors.
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“The red alert is a welcome sign of a different attitude from the Beijing government”, said Dong Liansai, climate and energy campaigner for environmental group Greenpeace.
The risky smog poses a major health threat to the city’s estimated 21 million inhabitants who are all being urged to limit outdoor activities and, if possible, stay indoors until the smog rolls away.
China’s capital Beijing has issued a red alert for air pollution for the first time ever, with a heavy cloud of unsafe smog blanketing the city.
The highest level of the four-tier alert indicates a severe air pollution problem is expected to last at least three days.
At 11am, the city’s air quality index, published by the municipal government, stood at 292 – classified as being a level of “heavy pollution”.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has dispatched inspection teams to regions with heavy pollution to ensure emergency plans are being launched in time, monitor and control pollution sources such as coal burning, and enhance management on vehicles that can not meet national emission standards.
Reuters reports that hundreds of people, including toddlers, stood in Tiananmen Square in Beijing to watch the flag-raising ceremony on Tuesday morning. “We wanted to develop, and now we pay the price”, Beijing office worker Cao Yong said during a break from work. However, that is low in comparison with last Tuesday, when the air quality was measured as hitting more than 1,000 in some parts of Beijing.
Beijing’s Education Commission has made a decision to suspend classes in all elementary and middle schools, kindergartens and extracurricular training schools during the alert.
“I like that we can have three days off school because of the bad air, but we can’t go out and have fun because of the pollution, which is real shame”.
“I feel like I’m engaged in chemical warfare”, one commuter said on social media. They needed to travel relatively far, however, because almost all of China’s northeast was affected, and many cities – including nearby Shijiazhuang – were even worse than Beijing.
She added: “It took several decades to treat the smog in London and we must learn the same lessons”.
Still, the level of pollution remains risky, Brown said.
Readings of PM2.5 particles climbed toward 300 micrograms per cubic meter, compared with the World Health Organization’s safe level of 25. Officials say extra subway trains and buses will handle the extra strain on transportation.
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Some businesses closed and others said employees could work from home for the duration. “It gives a blurry feeling and makes you feel like you’re in a dream”.
