Beijing air pollution reaches hazardous levels

The U.S. Embassy in Beijing reported 666 micrograms per cubic meter at 8 p.m.

Smartphone air quality apps, popular among residents of Beijing, showed an Air Quality Index (AQI) reading of 500 – the maximum – for nearly all monitoring stations across the city.

Beijing yesterday maintained the orange smog alert that was first raised in the capital on Sunday morning. The oppressive pollution has prompted China to issue its highest air quality alert so far this year.

The capital of the world’s most populous nation was blanketed in hazardous, choking smog as climate change talks began in Paris, where China’s leader is among the participants.

Campaign group Greenpeace criticised authorities in Beijing for issuing only their second highest alert, behind “red” which would have forced cars of the road.

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Parents rushed children to hospital with breathing problems as Beijing endured risky air pollution levels for a fifth day in a row. To start with, China produces 30 percent of the planet’s greenhouse gases.

“Volatile organic pollutant emissions” will continue to climb in the coming year and will peak in 2020, together with levels of ammonia and lead in the air, the newspaper said, citing a study by the Research Institute of Resources and Environment Policies at the State Council’s Development Research Center.

“If the imperial capital is already polluted to such a level, shouldn’t the environmental protection bureau leaders resign?” said one Weibo user. Neon signs hardly punctured the gloom, and lots of Beijingers wore masks of varied kinds while strolling the streets.

Authorities in China have blamed have blamed unusual weather for the smog, which is at least partly true.

The air is expected to clear today as a cold front arrives in the city. “Most Chinese are very happy to see that China’s contributing to what is being recognized as a really global crisis that must be addressed” even though most Chinese, he says, don’t recognize that climate change affects them personally.

The stench of soot hung over the city of 22 million, with the pollution obscuring visibility and prompting some citizens to question the government’s well-publicized claims of working to clean up the air. The smog has gotten so thick that visibility has been reduced to around half a kilometer or less in certain parts of the city.

While China has been the direct protagonist of a massive economic growth in the last couple of years, its pollution levels have also massively sparked.