China regulators reprimand city mayor over smog response

Last year India’s air was named the worst on the planet by the World Health Organization, and a study earlier this year showed that about half of the children in Delhi have irreversible lung damage.

China’s capital will step up air quality monitoring, a senior city official said, after recent severe pollution prompted authorities to issue a first smog “red alert”.

“I have survived Beijing’s first ever pollution “red alert” day, and frankly, after several years of inhaling noxious smog, I am wondering what all the fuss is about”, says Ford.

China is to receive a $300m (£198m) loan from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to help it combat unsafe pollution levels in Beijing city and its surrounding area.

This unprecedented strategy resulted from intense public criticism which was focused on last week’s equally deadly haze where the city did not carry out the necessary warnings to protect its citizens.

In a note posted online, the city wrote that the emergency measures had “been effective in slowing down the process of smog accumulation”, and expressed its “heartfelt thanks” and “sincere tribute” for residents’ contributions to the effort.

Many people in China wear face masks in the hope of preventing the breathing of pollution and airborne viruses, or to stop themselves spreading colds and coughs to others.

The air in the capital cleared Thursday as moderate winds blew from the north, with PM 2.5 levels dropping to just 59 by mid-morning, but remained at hazardous levels in cities to the south in the neighbouring province of Hebei.

Auto use has also been limited. Gopinath said IBM’s partnership with DDC will “provide greater insight about the complex and dynamic nature of air pollution in the city and help identify sustainable methods for improving the outlook in the short and long term”. And with winter only beginning, there may be more to come.

The government issued only an orange alert, however, one tier below red – possibly because China’s president was at the opening of the Paris talks, an inconvenient time for news photos of his masked countrymen to appear across the globe.