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Photo
by Lyu Wenzheng/VCG via Getty Images
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Heavy smog suffocated
northeast China for a fifth day Tuesday, with hundreds of flights cancelled and
road and rail transport grinding to a halt under the low visibility conditions.
AFP
report continues:
More
than 20 cities have entered a state of red alert since Friday evening,
implementing emergency measures aimed at cutting emissions and protecting
public health from the toxic miasma.
Across
the region, construction sites closed and authorities reduced the number of
vehicles allowed on the roads in hopes of reducing the thick haze.
In
Shijiazhuang, the capital of northern Hebei province, planes could not take off
or land, according to a post on a verified social media account of the city's
international airport.
Levels
of PM 2.5 -- microscopic particles harmful to human health -- climbed to 844 in
the area, according to the web site aqicn.org.
The
number is almost 34 times the World Health Organization's recommended maximum
exposure level of 25 over a 24-hour period.
On
the previous day, the count of PM 10, larger particles that contribute to the
thick haze, was off the charts, exceeding the maximum reading of 999.
On
the streets of Beijing, buildings disappeared into a yellowish haze so thick
that the city closed several major highways over safety concerns.
PM
2.5 levels hovered around 400 mid-day, according to data provided by the US
embassy in the city.
As
of 11:00 am Beijing Capital International airport had cancelled 217 flights, it
said in a post on its verified social media account.
Trains,
too, were running slowly, with at least 11 delays in the capital and another 34
halted in the neighbouring port city of Tianjin.
A
red alert, issued when severe smog is expected to last more than 72 hours, is
the highest of Beijing's four-tiered, colour-coded warning system.
In
December last year the capital issued its first ever red alert since the
adoption of an emergency response programme for air pollution in 2013, despite
frequent bouts of serious smog.
Most
of China's smog is blamed on the burning of coal for electricity and heating,
which spikes when demand peaks in winter.
The
issue is a source of enduring public anger in China, where fast economic growth
in recent decades has come at the cost of widespread environmental degradation.
On
social media, commenters vented their anger and disbelief at the conditions,
which authorities have long vowed to improve.
"I
thought Beijing was attacked by a nuclear (weapon) this morning," said one
post on the Twitter-like Weibo microblog.
"My
throat hurts and itches, my head hurts, too," said another.
"I think Beijing people can only stand it and not protest because the Party has tamed us so well."
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