Beijing to lift smog red alert

The red alert warning in Beijing is expected to be lifted on Thursday, Dec. 10, when the smog is predicted to be dispersed by the cold front. Many in Beijing are becoming accustomed to wearing masks during winter since episodes of nauseating smog lasting several days has become increasingly common.

The government put the red alert in place on Tuesday, following the emergence of heavy smog in the city of roughly 21.5 million people.

Counts of PM2.5 – harmful microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs – reached well over 600 micrograms per cubic metre last week, according to the U.S. embassy, which issues independent readings, and were regularly above 300 in recent days.

The north wind has dispersed the accumulated air pollutants, bringing the blue sky back to the capital, the municipal weather authority said.

Discussions with China began in January, but news of the loans comes the same week that the capital issued its first air pollution “red alert”, banning heavy vehicles, restricting the number of cars on the road, advising schools to cancel classes, and requiring outdoor construction to stop.

In Beijing and some northern cities that were severely hit by smog, the rise in orders of condoms went beyond the sales in cities with cleaner air, state-run China Daily reported.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection said the emergency measures had cut pollutant emissions by 30% from 7am to 5pm local time on Tuesday.

The city will “fight well a hard battle to prevent and contain air pollution”, it said. The density of PM 2.5 sulfates, commonly caused by coal-burning, was much higher on Tuesday while the air held far less PM 2.5 nitrates, mostly emitted by vehicles, Chai Fahe, deputy head of the Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences said.