beijing starts 2017 under a cloud
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

With a concentration of harmful

Beijing starts 2017 under a cloud

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Beijing starts 2017 under a cloud

China's capital city started the year under a heavy blanket
Beijing - Arab Today

Beijing woke on the first morning of the New Year covered in thick toxic fog, with a concentration of harmful particles 20 times higher than international standards. 

After a long period of pollution in December, the Chinese capital was again smothered Sunday in an acrid grey haze which limited visibility to a few hundred metres. 

Luminous signs on top of the skyscrapers seemed to float in the fog, while some tourists wore respiratory masks. 

Levels of PM 2.5 -- microscopic particles harmful to human health --  exceeded 500 on Sunday morning, according to US Embassy estimates, vastly above the maximum threshold of 25 recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) for a 24-hour exposure. 

On Sunday the exasperation of people in Beijing overwhelmed social networks. 

"Why didn't they trigger the red alert? Because it would be a bad omen for the first day of the year?" wrote a surfer on the Weibo microblogging platform. 

"Pollution now has its hukou (residence permit) in Beijing. It's made. It will never leave again," replied another.  

Most of China's greenhouse gas emissions come from the burning of coal for electricity and heating, which spikes when demand peaks in winter and is the main cause of smog.

Between December 16-21, Beijing along with some 30 other major cities in northern China was on "red alert", a maximum alarm level triggered when severe pollution is likely to last more than 72 hours.

Across the region, construction sites and schools closed and authorities reduced the number of vehicles allowed on the roads in hopes of reducing the thick haze.

On Friday and Saturday 24 Chinese cities in the north and east were again placed on red alert, according to media reports. 

Almost all of the alerts were dropped on Sunday, according to official sites, with the notable exception of various districts of Shijiazhuang, the capital of the highly industrialised province of Hebei, where in mid-December pollution was 40 times the maximum recommended WHO threshold.

The issue is a source of enduring public anger in China, which has seen fast economic growth in recent decades but at the cost of widespread environmental problems.

According to official meteorological predictions, the pollution haze will disperse "progressively" from January 5. 

China has set a target of reducing its annual coal capacity by 800 million tonnes, according to a government plan reported Saturday by state media.

Despite the target, Beijing expects total coal output to rise to around 3.9 billion tonnes by 2020, compared to 3.75 billion tonnes in 2015, the official Xinhua news agency said, citing a document from the country's top economic planning body.

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

beijing starts 2017 under a cloud beijing starts 2017 under a cloud

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

beijing starts 2017 under a cloud beijing starts 2017 under a cloud

 



GMT 21:16 2016 Monday ,27 June

Zaki Badr discusses cleaning problem in Giza

GMT 21:46 2017 Saturday ,14 January

Turkey arrests 60 businessmen for alleged Gulen ties

GMT 22:38 2017 Friday ,24 March

Abbas meets with Merkel in Berlin

GMT 09:02 2017 Monday ,27 March

Tunisian Premier Concludes Visit to Sudan

GMT 15:54 2017 Friday ,01 September

Attorney General Directs Prosecutors to inspect Prison

GMT 09:22 2017 Sunday ,31 December

HM King condoles with Afghanistan President

GMT 10:12 2016 Wednesday ,06 April

Strong dollar, mild weather shrink H&M profits

GMT 17:03 2016 Saturday ,24 December

7 police killed in attacks in Afghansitan

GMT 13:51 2017 Friday ,17 March

Israel denies Syria shot down a warplane

GMT 04:08 2017 Thursday ,05 January

Carbon tax can fund clean energy transition

GMT 19:27 2016 Wednesday ,14 September

Alstom to go ahead with plans to shut down Belfort plant
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday