Beijing issues red alert smog warning
December 15, 2016, 9:58 am

Schools have been ordered to suspend classes as the red alert extends over a period of five days [Xinhua]

China’s color code alerts include red – as the most dangerous and lethal, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

The red code is triggered when the city anticipates four consecutive days of heavy air pollution, including two days of severe air pollution.
A red alert is also issued if the city’s Air Quality Index (AQI) reaches 500, local media have said.

China’s National Environmental Monitoring Center said that Beijing, neighboring Tianjin Municipality, and Hebei Province will suffer heavy air pollution throughout that time.

Neighboring Shandong and Henan provinces will also be affected.

Just last week, China’s National Meteorological Center (NMC) warned of heavy smog in Beijing and other provinces in northern China such as Tianjin, Hebei, Shandong, Henan and Shanxi. It issued an orange alert for polluted air on Saturday.

The smog warning comes despite stern measures from Chinese authorities to battle air pollution. In Shijiazhuang, the capital of Hebei province for example, factories which are heavy polluters have been shut down until the end of 2016 while cars have been forced to follow an alternate access schedule.

Beijing will ban high-emission vehicles, Chinese officials have said.

According to the Chinese capital’s newly revised extreme weather emergency response mechanism, set to come into effect today, these vehicles will be restricted from roads when the city issues red or orange smog alerts – the city’s two most serious weather and pollution alerts.

The city will also bar these high-emission vehicles completely on week days starting next year in a bid to bring down auto exhaust emissions which make up over 31 per cent of the city’s air pollution.

Schools have been advised to suspend classes.

The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies