Appalling air quality: Beijing takes deep breath as smog season sets in
Beijing was hit by serious smog on Sunday as forecasters warned people living in the capital to brace for more days of poor air quality with the arrival of autumn.
Autumn and winter are usually the seasons when air pollution in Beijing turns for the worse.
The authorities issued the first yellow alert – the lowest in the three-tier system – for poor air quality on Sunday and said the smog had ushered in the start of the pollution season, according to the official Weather.com.cn.
Despite showers over the previous two nights which usually help clear the air, the air pollution remained poor.
The air quality index reading was 229 at 6pm, categorised as very unhealthy.
The average PM2.5 reading in the first eight months was 63 micrograms per cubic metre, Xinhua reported.
Beijing is aiming to keep average PM2.5 levels below 60 micrograms per cubic metre next year.
Levels were 80.6 micrograms in 2015, down from 95.7 micrograms in 2012, the report said.
(Where I am in Stockholm, PM2,5 is about 15 on weekends and max 30 on workdays. See your own levels where you live at Air Pollution in the World )
(So what are people supposed to do, stop breathing?)
Beijing was hit by serious smog on Sunday as forecasters warned people living in the capital to brace for more days of poor air quality with the arrival of autumn.
Autumn and winter are usually the seasons when air pollution in Beijing turns for the worse.
The authorities issued the first yellow alert – the lowest in the three-tier system – for poor air quality on Sunday and said the smog had ushered in the start of the pollution season, according to the official Weather.com.cn.
Despite showers over the previous two nights which usually help clear the air, the air pollution remained poor.
The air quality index reading was 229 at 6pm, categorised as very unhealthy.
The average PM2.5 reading in the first eight months was 63 micrograms per cubic metre, Xinhua reported.
Beijing is aiming to keep average PM2.5 levels below 60 micrograms per cubic metre next year.
Levels were 80.6 micrograms in 2015, down from 95.7 micrograms in 2012, the report said.
(Where I am in Stockholm, PM2,5 is about 15 on weekends and max 30 on workdays. See your own levels where you live at Air Pollution in the World )
(So what are people supposed to do, stop breathing?)
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