Schools have been closed and cars forced off the road as China’s capital issues its first-ever red alert for pollution.
In an unprecedented situation, labelled ‘airpocalypse’ by Greenpeace, Beijing is shrouded by a dangerous smog, with pollution levels more than 25 times more than the safe level.
The World Health Organisation declares a safe level of PM2.5 – harmful microscopic particles that penetrate deep in the lungs – to be 25 micrograms per cubic metre.
But a reading from outside Beijing’s US embassy measures the levels at 634 micrograms per cubic metre, News Limited reports.
PHOTOS: Smog smothers Beijing in city’s first-ever pollution red alert https://t.co/DQwGDzqISH pic.twitter.com/1E3qs5xa3L
— PBS NewsHour (@NewsHour) December 7, 2015
The red alert, which began on Tuesday morning and will last until midday Thursday, is the highest of the country’s four-tiered warning system and is reserved for when severe smog is expected to last more than 72 hours.
Top Comments
I always wonder how much protection those thin white masks provide, surely enough particles would still get inhaled to cause real damage to the lungs, terrible situation for China, they need to do something pronto.