China yesterday warned residents across a large part of its north to prepare for a wave of choking smog over the weekend, the worst of which is expected over Beijing, prompting the capital to issue its second ever “red alert.”
The Chinese National Meteorological Center said that the smog would stretch from Xian, home to the world-famous Terracotta Warriors, across part of central China, through Beijing and up into Shenyang and Harbin in China’s frigid northeast.
The air pollution would begin rolling in from tonight and last until Tuesday, with visibility in the worst affected areas, such as Beijing, likely to fall to less than 1km, it said.
The pollution index would probably exceed 500 in Beijing and parts of Hebei Province, which surrounds the capital, it said. Residents are encouraged to remain indoors at levels higher than 300, according to government guidelines.
The Beijing city government issued its first “red alert” last week following criticism that previous bouts of smog had failed to trigger the highest warning level.
Beijing’s second red alert comes after a landmark climate agreement was reached in Paris earlier this month, setting a course to move away from a fossil fuel-driven economy within decades in a bid to arrest global warming.
A red alert is triggered when the government believes air quality will surpass a level of 200 on an air quality index that measures various pollutants for at least three days. The US government deems a level of more than 200 “very unhealthy.”
In Beijing, a red alert means about half the vehicles are removed from roads, with an odd-even license plate system enforced. Schools are recommended to close and outdoor construction is banned.
The Beijing environmental protection bureau said the red alert would last from 7am today to 12pm on Tuesday. Xinhua news agency said the smog would be worse than last week.
“Parts of northern China will see the worst smog so far this year from today,” Xinhua said, citing the National Meteorological Center.
Beijing is not the only city to have a colored alert system and the restrictions rolled out in the most severe cases are broadly similar.
Beijing’s neighboring city of Tianjin also aims to remove about half of all cars from roads in the event of a red alert.
Hebei’s environment protection bureau yesterday said it was issuing an orange alert, the second-highest. Schools will not close and there will be no vehicle restrictions, but it recommends no outdoor activities and that people use public transport.
After decades of unbridled economic growth, Chinese leadership has vowed to crack down on severe levels of air, water and soil pollution, including the heavy smog that often blankets major cities.
City residents have previously criticized authorities for being too slow to issue red alerts for heavy smog.
Shanghai schools banned outdoor activities and authorities limited work at construction sites and factories earlier this week.
Chinese Minister of Environmental Protection Chen Jining (陳吉寧) vowed this month to punish agencies and officials for any failure to quickly implement a pollution emergency response plan.
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