CHINA: Beijing issues pollution alert for three days of smog

Record ID: 217047

  • Title: CHINA: Beijing issues pollution alert for three days of smog
  • Date: 21st February 2014
  • Summary: BEIJING, CHINA (FEBRUARY 21, 2014) (REUTERS) CARS DRIVING IN BEIJING'S CENTRAL BUSINESS DISTRICT PART OF CHINA CENTRAL TELEVISION (CCTV) HEADQUARTERS IN SMOG VARIOUS OF CARS DRIVING ON ROAD WOMAN STANDING WEARING MASK PEOPLE STANDING WAITING FOR BUS WOMAN WEARING MASK TALKING ON PHONE CARS DRIVING ON ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Mandarin) 73-YEAR-OLD RETIREE ZHANG JIANGUO SAYING:
  • Embargoed: 8th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: China
  • Country: China
  • Topics: General,Health,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA8FTIWGQ0B9PBA0CGTU7S3GXN8
  • Story Text: China's capital Beijing issued an emergency pollution alert for the first time on Thursday (February 20), warning residents to reduce outdoor activities and urging construction sites to control dust given a forecast of heavy smog over the next three days.
    The Beijing Municipal Environmental Protection Bureau said on its website it had issued a yellow alert - the first use of a colour-coded warning system unveiled last October.
    The warning, the second most serious in the four-colour system, came even though readings of PM2.5 particles, especially bad for health, had not yet hit the more hazardous levels already seen several times earlier this year.
    On Friday (February 21) morning, the city awoke under a dense grey pall. Cars crawled through the rush-hour traffic and many commuters wore face masks.
    An index measuring particles including PM2.5, or particulate matter with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers, well exceeded 350 in the early morning, according to readings by the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center.
    The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency considers a level above 300 to be hazardous.
    "These few days the air is not very good. My health isn't very good so I wore my mask when I went out to reduce the amount of particles I inhale. Beijing's like this because there are a lot of cars, and also because there's so much construction dust," said 73-year-old retiree Zhang Jianguo.
    Pollution is an increasing concern for China's leaders, as affluent city dwellers turn against a growth-at-all-costs economic model that has tainted much of the country's air, water and soil.
    Severe pollution in Beijing has made it "barely suitable" for living, according to an official report published earlier this month, and despite numerous measures aimed at improving air quality in recent years.
    Beijing's mayor promised last month to spend 15 billion yuan ($2.4 billion) on improving air quality this year as part of an "all-out effort" to tackle pollution.
    The city also plans to shut 300 polluting factories and cut new car registrations.
    "Beijing's air is now like living in a steamer with all sorts of smoke, haze and smog. We've all become human vacuum cleaners," said another man, 25-year-old Mr. Zhang, who is unemployed.
    Heavy smog will continue for three days, the government warned, urging residents to use public transport if possible.
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