The air is the air, or so we assume, and even when it gets dirty we don’t worry too much. “The reality is that we have smog”, she said.
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Schools were closed when the top-level code red was declared on Tuesday for the first time since a four-colour code system was imposed in 2013, and traffic restricted to driving alternate days by odd and even number plates. Since most of the pollution that regularly plagues Beijing comes from coal-burning factories in surrounding provinces like Hebei and Henan, those lax policies mean that the capital’s emergency measures did little to improve air quality.
By Thursday afternoon they were down to as low as 15 at times as moderate winds blew from the north, below even the World Health Organization’s recommended maximum exposure of 25.
Here’s a look at Beijing’s smog red alert.
The ancient Forbidden City palace complex and other Beijing landmarks were lost in a grey, soupy haze on Wednesday.
China has issued its first ever red alert on pollution as the country, especially the capital Beijing, faces poor air quality.
Some Beijingers have left the city altogether, taking advantage of the school closures to fly to cleaner destinations, such as the southern city of Kunming at the foot of the Tibetan Plateau.
When the U.S. Embassy in Beijing began issuing pollution readings several years ago, Chinese state media – and many ordinary Chinese – accused Ambassador Gary Locke of “meddling” in the nation’s internal affairs or seeking to embarrass the Communist Party. The massive city is surrounded by mountains that help to trap emissions from factories and automobiles-and from the coal-fired boilers that many residents still rely upon for heat. Residents are concerned that the polluted air could affect their health, as well as that of the children in the city.
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A Watson-like forecaster from IBM Research (China) called Green Horizons not only forecasts pollution to mitigate its effects, but also forecasts energy usage in energy-stressed cities in order to better integrate renewable energy sources without the need for grid-scale batteries. The rush for protection from the unhealthy air created a financial windfall for some vendors and researchers are busy now trying to determine just what was the economic impact from the pollution.
