Beijing issues first ever red alert on pollution

Despite the warning, Beijing’s streets remained busy as people went about their routines, with only a few donning masks to protect against the foul air.

The measures imposed for the alert were good, he said, “but we need much more radical moves than this”.

Beijing has suffered more serious smog lasting more than three days in the past, but it was not forecast and so did not trigger the red alert.

The decision to issue the red alert despite relatively low numbers also provoked ridicule.

Under the alert, schools have been closed, work at outdoor construction sites suspended, and factories have been ordered to halt operations. The alert ends Thursday, when cold temperatures are expected to reduce smog levels.

Factory suspensions and several other restrictions will seek to reduce the dust and other particulate matter in the city of 22.5 million people.

While Delhi continues to debate the “tough” anti-pollution measures announced by the city government, China’s capital Beijing on Monday issued its first “red alert” on air pollution since 2013, taking tougher and immediate measures to deal with a problem which appears to be comparable to what Delhiites face at the moment. In some worst affected areas, the level has gotten as high as 256 micrograms, while the safest level recommended by The World Health Organization is 25 micrograms per cubic metre.

Monday’s red alert came just a week after a thick grey haze shrouded the city with concentrations of PM2.5 – harmful microscopic particles that penetrate deep into the lungs – as high as 634 micrograms per cubic metre.

“We all have masks”.

When the Beijing Youth Daily shared a picture of “square dancing aunties” in a park last week, startled netizens said it looked like a scene from horror film Resident Evil. Use of a vehicle is restricted to every other day depending on its license plate, and officials planned to deploy extra subway trains and buses to compensate.

Another study found that women who were in Beijing and pregnant during the 2008 Beijing Olympics – when officials strictly controlled air pollution – gave birth to heavier babies than in years when the city was smoggier.

Under the red smog warning, primary and middle schools will suspend classes.

The air quality index is very closely linked to levels of PM2.5, although it also takes into account other pollutants.

China’s polluted air has had severe health effects.

Earlier this month, China repeated plans to upgrade coal power plants in the next five years. Chinese president Xi Jinping said during the United Nations climate conference in Paris last week: “China pledges to peak Carbon dioxide emissions by around 2030 and strive to achieve it as soon as possible…This requires strenuous efforts, but we have confidence and resolve to fulfill our commitments”, he said.

China still depends on coal for more than 60% of its power, despite major investment in renewable energy sources.