In recent times, China has been dealing with air pollution problems. Due to this, Chinese authorities are now planning to launch an air quality warning system in Beijing, Tianjin, as well as the neighboring, heavily-polluted areas in November 2013, in order to deal with this issue in the country.
The latest plan – released by the Ministry of Environmental Protection and China Meteorological Administration – places the alert system at three levels, with level I being the highest and level III being the lowest. If the air quality index goes over 500, this triggers a level I warning, while level II and level III are meant for the index between 300 to 500 and 200 to 300, respectively, in the span of 3 consecutive days.
The new plan has been released as the country is now facing immense pressure regarding what measures it is taking to deal with serious pollution problems. Earlier in 2013, a heavy smog covered a major part of the country. The government of China aims to reduce the density of inhalable particulate matter by at least 10 percent in some of the biggest cities which are facing such pollution problems by 2017.
The key indicator of pollution is is PM 2.5, which has to fall by 25 percent from 2012 levels in Beijing and surrounding areas by 2017.
Photo Credits: Green Peace
