Extreme levels of air pollution forced schools, roads and the airport to close in a large city in northeastern China on Monday.
In Harbin, the capital of the Heilongjiang province, fine particulate
matter (PM2.5) reached levels of 1,000 micrograms per cubic meter in
some parts of the city, readings
40 times
the level of 25 or less micrograms per cubic meter that the World
Health Organization considers ideal for human health and more than three
times the level of 300 that’s considered hazardous — for comparison, as
the
New York Times notes,
the air quality index in New York was 41 on Monday morning. It was the
first time PM2.5 readings have hit 1,000 since China began releasing
data on PM2.5 in January 2012.
Reducing visibility to less than 50 yards in some areas, the smog
forced elementary and middle schools to cancel classes, closed some
highways and led to cancellations of at least 40 flights. It was the
first time this winter, a period known as the “
heating season”
that smog caused major problems for Chinese residents. In China, the
heating season begins when city managers switch on the heating systems
in homes and city buildings, which in Harbin happened on Sunday. The
extra coal it takes to heat China’s cities in the winter, coupled with
winter weather patterns makes the season especially prone to high levels
of smog in the country.
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