Home Tags Posts tagged with "beijing city"

beijing city

 Air pollution in the Chinese capital Beijing has reached levels judged as hazardous to human health.

Readings from both official and unofficial monitoring stations suggested that Saturday’s pollution has soared past danger levels outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The air tastes of coal dust and car fumes, two of the main sources of pollution, say correspondents.

Economic growth has left air quality in many cities notoriously poor.

A heavy smog has smothered Beijing for many days.

By Saturday afternoon it was so thick you could see just a few hundred metres in the city centre, our correspondent says, with tower blocks vanishing into the greyness.

Even indoors the air looked hazy.

 Air pollution in the Chinese capital Beijing has reached levels judged as hazardous to human health

Air pollution in the Chinese capital Beijing has reached levels judged as hazardous to human health

WHO guidelines say average concentrations of the tiniest pollution particles – called PM2.5 – should be no more than 25 microgrammes per cubic metre.

Air is unhealthy above 100 microgrammes. At 300, all children and elderly people should remain indoors.

Official Beijing city readings on Saturday suggested pollution levels over 400. Unofficial reading from a monitor at the US embassy recorded 800.

Once inhaled, the tiny particles can cause respiratory infections, as well as increased mortality from lung cancer and heart disease.

Last year Chinese authorities warned the US embassy not to publish its data. But the embassy said the measurements were for the benefit of embassy personnel and were not citywide.

[youtube KM2OnoSARRU]

China’s capital Beijing has been hit by the heaviest rainfall in 60 years and has left 10 people dead and stranded thousands at the main airport.

The deluge struck on Saturday afternoon and continued into the night, flooding major roads, state media said.

Roof collapses, lightning strikes and electrocution from downed power lines were among the causes of the deaths.

More than 500 flights were cancelled at the main airport, the Beijing News reported.

Beijing has been hit by the heaviest rainfall in 60 years and has left 10 people dead and stranded thousands at the main airport

Beijing has been hit by the heaviest rainfall in 60 years and has left 10 people dead and stranded thousands at the main airport

State media said flooding and landslides also killed four people in northern Shanxi province and six in south-western Sichuan province.

State news agency Xinhua said 460 mm (18.1 in) fell in the capital’s Fangshan district, with the capital as a whole averaging 170 mm.

It said 14,500 people, mostly in outlying districts, had to be evacuated.

“There could be further large-scale storms or extreme weather,” the Beijing city government’s website said.