Pollution alerts as Christmas Day dawns on a China choking in toxic smog
Print Edition
BEIJING residents woke to a sky obscured by thick toxic smog on Christmas Day with more than 100 million people across China having been warned to stay indoors.
Counts of PM2.5 — the microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs — in the capital peaked at 620 micrograms per cubic meter in the early morning, according to data from the US embassy.
The World Health Organization’s recommended maximum exposure is 25 micrograms over a 24-hour period.
“If this only happened a few days a year, I’d put up with it, but it’s paralyzing for it to be like this every day,” was one online comment on Sina Weibo. “Is this the new normal?”
The city posted contradictory alerts for the day, with the weather bureau issuing an orange alert — requiring factories to limit emissions of pollutants and schools to cease outdoor activities — while the environment protection bureau issued a yellow alert, the second lowest.
The smog in the capital is expected to last until this afternoon, with a slight improvement in air quality today.
Photos on social media showed empty freeways shrouded in haze as authorities shut down highways in the region and grounded flights out of the capital.
More than 500 international and domestic arrivals and departures at Beijing’s main airport were canceled due to “heavy fog and low visibility,” its website said.
“In this kind of weather, can Santa even find Beijing?” was another comment on Sina Weibo.
In the neighboring city of Tianjin, no fewer than 19 freeways were closed early yesterday, according to the Tianjin Freeway Management Office’s official microblog, with CCTV television reporting visibility of less than five meters.
“Santa can’t even get to Tianjin! I was wondering why my stocking had no gifts in it! Smog you better get out of here!” said another Weibo user.
Beijing issued its first-ever red alert on December 7, declaring emergency pollution measures following scathing public criticism of the city’s weak response to choking smog that settled on the capital earlier in the month.
Its second and latest red alert, which lasted four days, ended on Tuesday.
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