BEIJING
— Engulfed in choking smog, some northern Chinese cities limited the
number of cars on roads and temporarily shut down factories on Monday to
cut down pollution during a national "red alert." More than 700 …
Plants Closed, Cars Stopped as China Faces Smog 'Red Alert'
byAssociated Press
BEIJING — Engulfed in choking smog, some
northern Chinese cities limited the number of cars on roads and
temporarily shut down factories on Monday to cut down pollution during a
national "red alert."
More than 700 companies stopped production in
Beijing and traffic police were restricting drivers by monitoring their
license plate numbers, state media reported. Dozens of cities closed
schools and took other emergency measures after a "red alert" was issued
from Friday night to Wednesday for much of northern China.
"The smog has serious repercussions on the lungs
and the respiratory system, and it also influences the health of future
generations, so under a red alert, it is safer to stay at home rather
than go to school," said Li Jingren, a 15-year-old high school student
in Beijing.
Pedestrians wear masks to protect themselves from pollution in Beijing on Dec. 19, 2016. GREG BAKER / AFP - Getty Images
Authorities in the northern province of Hebei
ordered coal and cement plants to temporarily shut down or reduce
production. Elsewhere, hospitals prepared teams of doctors to handle an
expected surge in cases of pollution-related illnesses.
China's long-standing air pollution is blamed on its reliance on coal and emissions from older cars.
"If you are tracking back to the first day of
this episode, you can see that the layer of the smog (in Beijing) is
moving slowly from the south to the urban area in Beijing and then to
the north," said Dong Liansai, a climate campaigner with Greenpeace in
Beijing. "You can easily find the large deployment (of smog) in the
regions south of Beijing."
Dong said emissions from factories in nearby provinces were the main cause of the smog choking the capital.
The smog had earlier grounded flights in some cities and closed highways due to low visibility.
On Sunday, news websites said the number of
children being taken to Beijing hospitals with breathing trouble soared.
Photos showed waiting rooms crowded with parents carrying children who
wore face masks.
Members of the public closely watch levels of
PM2.5, particles measuring 2.5 microns across that are easily inhaled
and damage lung tissue.
The alert, this winter's first, lasts through Wednesday.
Authorities in Jinan, south of Tianjin, raised
that city's alert to the second-highest level Sunday after the city
"basically disappeared" in the haze, the newspaper Jilu Evening News
reported. Photos on its website showed downtown office towers as ghostly
silhouettes at midday.
Beijing and other cities have tried to improve
air quality by switching power plants from coal to natural gas and
rolling out fleets of electric buses and taxis.
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