Wenjie Dong/iStock/Thinkstock(BEIJING) — Severe smog in northern China Wednesday has caused schools to close and hundreds of flights to be cancelled, according to reports.
The so-called “airpocalypse” is affecting 460 million people, with an estimated 200 million people living in areas experiencing “hazardous” levels of smog — 10 times above the guidelines set by the World Health Organization, according to Greenpeace East Asia.
Beijing and 21 other Chinese cities are currently on “red alert,” the highest level in China’s four-tier pollution warning system, according to China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection (MEP). Hundreds of flights out of Beijing Capital International Airport were canceled, according to state media.
The cities experiencing the most severe pollution are in the county’s largest steel or coal industry clusters, which have recently seen a major uptick in production, Greenpeace said.
Handan, a steel production city in southern Hebei, recorded an average air quality index of 780 on Monday, surpassing the official scale of 0 to 500, according to Greenpeace. The AQI for the capital of Hebei province, Shijiazhuang, exceeded 700 as well.
The Ministry of Environmental Protection has located factories across the region that may have violated warnings to reduce or halt operations.
Wondering what northern China’s #airpocalypse really feels like? This was the view in suburban Tangshan, Hebei province, yesterday afternoon pic.twitter.com/hsJS2w8NZF
— Greenpeace East Asia (@GreenpeaceEAsia) December 20, 2016
“The ongoing ‘airpocalypse’ is further evidence that China must implement far stricter limitations on coal consumption and accelerate the restructuring of the economy away from the heavily polluting sectors,” said Greenpeace climate and energy campaigner Dong Liansai.
Greenpeace posted a photo of students in the city of Linzhou in Henan province taking exams outdoors amid the haze.
Wow: in China, exams don’t stop, even during an #airpocalypse https://t.co/7rMIY0r3aL pic.twitter.com/WOkwvx4Wun
— Greenpeace East Asia (@GreenpeaceEAsia) December 21, 2016
Officials are investigating whether local governments have taken appropriate measures to address heavy pollution, the MEP said Friday. At least 687 Chinese officials have already been held accountable for their “poor environmental protection records.”
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