The northern China is encountering the high-smog season and visibility in the region reduced to less than half a football field. The small-particle pollution has increased to a record 40 times higher than the international safety standard in one of the northern Chinese cities.
Jazz singer Patti Austen’s manager said that the singer had to cancel a concert in Beijing due to an asthma attack, which is likely to be connected to pollution. As the winter arrives, it usually brings the worst air pollution to the country, which happens partly because of weather conditions and in part due to the burning of coal and municipal heating systems, which begin on a particular date every year.
The heating system in the city of Harbin started on October 20, 2013 and on October 21, 2013 the visibility was reduced to less than 50 meters. Wu Kai, the 33-year-old housewife and a mother of a baby boy said that she could not see anything outside her apartment and thought that it was snowing. The density of PM2.5 – the fine particulate matter – is used as an indicator of air quality and its rate was above 600 micrograms per cubic meter.
In comparison, World Health Organization (WHO) recommended 25 micrograms per cubic meter as a safe level.
Photo Credits: Tokyo Times
