Beijing air pollution soars to hazard level / In pictures: Beijing pollution

By Dilip -
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, says a BBC correspondent. Economic growth has left air quality in many cities notoriously poor.
A heavy smog has smothered Beijing for many days, says the BBC's Damian Grammaticas, in the capital. 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...
In pictures: Beijing pollution: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21005228
Air quality in China's cities is among the worst in the world, according to international monitors, made worse by the country's reliance on coal for energy and a rapidly-growing car market
Chinese media have reacted strongly to dangerous levels of pollution recorded in many northern cities in recent days. In the capital, Beijing, at the weekend, air pollution soared past levels considered hazardous by the World Health Organization. The official People's Daily said the smog was a "suffocating siege" which had to be urgently addressed. The state-run China Daily said the country had to learn to balance development with quality of life. 
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-21007893

“Start Quote

Ms Li
It would be helpful if the city has less cars”
Ms Li, Beijing
Meanwhile, the tabloid Global Times said China was risking serious long-term environmental damage. Smog also dominated social media sites. Over the week, a dense smog had been gathering over Beijing and some 30 other cities in northern and eastern China, with visibility down to 100m in some places. Official Beijing city readings on Saturday suggested pollution levels of over 400. An unofficial reading from a monitor at the US embassy recorded levels of over 800

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