China Says Its Measures Reduce Pollutants In Beijing to One-third

Now that Beijing has had its first red alert since institutionalizing its smog alert system in 2013, it was news when the special forces who guard Tiananmen Square were seen, for the first time, wearing face masks to protect them from the smog, too.

The newspaper said that, according to search ratings provided for the week by China’s largest online shopping platform Taobao.com, searches for condoms correlated with Chinese cities with heavy smog.

A red alert triggers restrictions on vehicles while schools are closed, businesses recommended to allow flexible hours and the government advises that all “large-scale, outdoor activity” be stopped.

The measures were being lifted from midday Thursday, according to a social media post by Beijing’s environmental protection bureau.

A cold wave will likely clear up smog in Beijing later today after the city issued warnings this weekend for children and the elderly to stay inside as pollution levels rose again in the wake of its first-ever red pollution alert earlier this month.

Harmful and toxic microparticles that can penetrate deep inside lungs known as PM2.5 reached a whopping more than 600 micrograms per cubic meter last week according to the United States Embassy that issues independent readings, and on other days, the measurements were above 300.

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.

But the struggle is largely out of municipal officials’ hands since much of its air pollution comes from neighbouring areas, where pollution levels remained hazardous Thursday, particularly to the south in Hebei province.

“We should have more information exchanges”, he said.

The poisonous smog in Beijing is caused by the burning of coal for industry and heating, and huge amounts of dust from the city’s many construction sites.