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Lingering smog may relieve tomorrow in Shanghai, thanks to easterly winds

By Ke Jiayun | October 14, 2015, Wednesday | Online Edition

THE smog which has shrouded the city for three days is expected to relieve Thursday when the easterly winds drive away city's pollutants, forecasters said

Wednesday the city woke up to dirty airs with the air quality index climbing to 201 at 5am, hitting the heavily polluted level, according to the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center.

Due to the firm weather condition, though the heavy pollution soon relieved slightly with the AQI falling to 200 -- the upper limit of a moderately polluted level -- and lower during the following two hours, this index returned to above 200 after 7am and peaked at 213 at 9am.

Meanwhile, the concentration of main pollutant PM2.5 particles soaring to up 160 micrograms per cubic meter at 9am, more than six times the World Health Organization's safety guideline of 25 micrograms.

Because the westerly winds in the city later transferred to easterly ones, which carried fresh airs from the ocean, the AQI started slipping sharply at 10am and an obvious respite from the smoggy weather was seen in the afternoon, said the Shanghai Meteorological Bureau.

By 3pm, the AQI was found dropped to 67, marked with the level "good".

According to the local weather bureau, since the easterly winds will linger in the city for several following days, the air quality is likely to improve during the remainder of this week.

Experts linked the recent polluted days to some neighboring areas' straw burning. Earlier this year the city also introduced a ban on straw burning, which is upheld with the help of regular aerial inspections by police helicopters.

Metro


 

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