Smog chokes northeast provinces
Print Edition
SCHOOLCHILDREN stayed indoors, planes were grounded and highways closed yesterday as heavily-polluted Harbin, capital of Heilongjiang Province, battled smog.
Northeast China’s Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces have been choking under large-scale heavy smog since last Friday brought about by a combination of straw burning, coal heating, a weak cold front and recent rain and snow, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said.
In Harbin, the education bureau ordered schools to either suspend classes or stop outdoor activities as the city reported “heavily-polluted” air condition, China Central Television reported.
At 5pm yesterday, the air quality index had reached 275. Four of the 11 monitoring sites saw the index exceed 300, indicating “severe pollution,” the highest in a six-tier scale, according to the Harbin Environmental Protection Bureau.
The chief pollutants were PM2.5, with the density of 184 micrograms per cubic meter at 5pm, though the safe daily level, according to the World Health Organization, is just 25 micrograms per cubic meter, it said.
PM2.5 refers particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers in diameter; these “fine” particles are believed to pose the greatest health risks.
The heavy smog and haze have greatly slashed visibility in Harbin.
Yesterday, the visibility was less than 200 meters in downtown and less than 500 meters in other parts of the city, CCTV reported.
As a result, 191 flights were canceled and 67 others delayed, causing nearly 12,000 passengers to be stranded at Harbin Taiping International Airport from Tuesday to yesterday morning, the national broadcaster added.
On Tuesday afternoon, an Eastar Jet flight, carrying 144 passengers, flew from Cheongju in South Korea to Harbin. But the thick smog forced the plane to land in nearby Changchun, Jilin, and return to Cheongju after refueling, Yonhap news agency reported.
Planes are required to take off in 450-meter and land in 550-meter visibility to ensure safety.
Liaoning’s capital of Shenyang has also been in the grip of abysmal air.
The density of PM2.5 peaked at 1,400 micrograms per cubic meter, 56 times higher than the WHO safety limit, on November 8. The daily density has reached 901, raising the daily AQI up to 500.
Local residents complained about the air stinging their eyes and causing sore throat. To reduce emissions, work at construction sites has been suspended, 39 factories have cut output by 40-50 percent and large trucks have been banned entering downtown, Li Gang, Shenyang’s deputy environmental protection chief, told reporters.
At 5pm yesterday, the city’s AQI had reduced to 142, with the density of PM2.5 lower to 108 micrograms per cubic meter, the Shenyang Environmental Protection Bureau said.
Changchun, the Jilin provincial capital, had its first snow of winter on Monday, when its AQI reached 500. But the air quality has since turned much better. At 6pm yesterday, the index was 118, meaning “lightly-polluted.”
Heavy smog is estimated to linger in the three provinces until Saturday, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said in a statement.
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