China catches its breath as haze envelops nation
Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily |
January 30, 2013, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
Residents across northern China suffered choking pollution yesterday while Beijing was plunged into a toxic twilight for the fourth time this winter.
Visibility was reduced to around 200 meters in parts of the capital, where pedestrians wearing masks made their way through a murky haze despite warnings from authorities to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.
In one city office, according to the AFP news agency, up to 20 workers worried that the pollutants could penetrate indoors took extra precautions, wearing protective masks at their desks.
Wang Anshun, Beijing's new mayor who took office on Monday, was quoted as saying: "The current environmental problems are worrisome."
The Beijing News went as far as to suggest banning or regulating Spring Festival fireworks in the capital. Pollution readings spiked after the city's skyline lit up with explosions last year.
The Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center gave the air quality index as 406 yesterday, indicating the capital's air was "severely polluted."
The index rates a reading over 150 as "unhealthy" and above 300 as "hazardous."
National weather forecasters estimate that rain and snow will hit the nation tonight, and a cold front is expected in the capital tomorrow, bringing strong winds to disperse the fog.
Earlier this month, several consecutive days of smoggy weather choked Beijing and other cities in north and east China, with PM2.5 readings far in excess of levels considered safe, Xinhua news agency said.
Yesterday's toxic conditions followed an extreme bout of pollution earlier this month, when readings for PM 2.5, particles small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs and cause health problems, peaked at 993 micrograms per cubic meter, almost 40 times the World Health Organization's recommended safe limit.
At the height of the smog, many residents rushed to buy face masks and air purifiers, and doctors at two of Beijing's major hospitals said the number of patients with respiratory problems had increased sharply during the period.
China Central Television gave the smog's second day huge airplay, showing vehicles having to use full headlights in the middle of the morning to light their way through noxious clouds enveloping huge swathes of northern China as well as other areas.
The smog affected a total area of 1.3 million square kilometers across the country, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said yesterday.
It said the hardest-hit regions included the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and Jiangsu, and the cities of Hefei, Wuhan and Chengdu.
Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Jinan were "gravely polluted" and air pollution in other cities including Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Hefei, Nanjing, Shenyang and Changchun was rated just one level lower, or "seriously polluted," at 10am yesterday.
More than 100 flights were delayed or canceled at Zhengzhou Airport in Henan, said CCTV, adding that the haze would last until tomorrow.
In the eastern province of Shandong, almost 2,000 passengers were stranded at Qingdao's main airport after it shut, with 20 flights canceled, after visibility dropped to 100 meters.
Visibility was reduced to around 200 meters in parts of the capital, where pedestrians wearing masks made their way through a murky haze despite warnings from authorities to stay indoors unless absolutely necessary.
In one city office, according to the AFP news agency, up to 20 workers worried that the pollutants could penetrate indoors took extra precautions, wearing protective masks at their desks.
Wang Anshun, Beijing's new mayor who took office on Monday, was quoted as saying: "The current environmental problems are worrisome."
The Beijing News went as far as to suggest banning or regulating Spring Festival fireworks in the capital. Pollution readings spiked after the city's skyline lit up with explosions last year.
The Beijing Environmental Monitoring Center gave the air quality index as 406 yesterday, indicating the capital's air was "severely polluted."
The index rates a reading over 150 as "unhealthy" and above 300 as "hazardous."
National weather forecasters estimate that rain and snow will hit the nation tonight, and a cold front is expected in the capital tomorrow, bringing strong winds to disperse the fog.
Earlier this month, several consecutive days of smoggy weather choked Beijing and other cities in north and east China, with PM2.5 readings far in excess of levels considered safe, Xinhua news agency said.
Yesterday's toxic conditions followed an extreme bout of pollution earlier this month, when readings for PM 2.5, particles small enough to deeply penetrate the lungs and cause health problems, peaked at 993 micrograms per cubic meter, almost 40 times the World Health Organization's recommended safe limit.
At the height of the smog, many residents rushed to buy face masks and air purifiers, and doctors at two of Beijing's major hospitals said the number of patients with respiratory problems had increased sharply during the period.
China Central Television gave the smog's second day huge airplay, showing vehicles having to use full headlights in the middle of the morning to light their way through noxious clouds enveloping huge swathes of northern China as well as other areas.
The smog affected a total area of 1.3 million square kilometers across the country, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said yesterday.
It said the hardest-hit regions included the cities of Beijing and Tianjin, the provinces of Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Shanxi and Jiangsu, and the cities of Hefei, Wuhan and Chengdu.
Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang and Jinan were "gravely polluted" and air pollution in other cities including Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Xi'an, Hefei, Nanjing, Shenyang and Changchun was rated just one level lower, or "seriously polluted," at 10am yesterday.
More than 100 flights were delayed or canceled at Zhengzhou Airport in Henan, said CCTV, adding that the haze would last until tomorrow.
In the eastern province of Shandong, almost 2,000 passengers were stranded at Qingdao's main airport after it shut, with 20 flights canceled, after visibility dropped to 100 meters.
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