Yellow alert for week-long heavy smog issued

A visitor takes a picture at the Tiananmen Square amid the heavy smog in Beijing, Feb 20, 2014. [Photo/Xinhua]

Beijing, its neighbors Tianjin and Hebei Province, as well as central and western Shandong Province can expect heavy air pollution to linger for a week, according to a joint weather forecast issued by the China Meteorological Administration and the Ministry of Environmental Protection.

China Meteorological Administration issued a yellow alert to this wide-ranged heavy smog at 6 a.m. today, with children and the elderly being advised to stay indoors.

On Thursday morning, PM 2.5 readings in those regions exceeded 115 micrograms per cubic meter, far above the 25 micrograms level considered safe by the World Health Organization.

The CMA expects the smog to last for a week as no cold front is in sight to help disperse it.

Heavy smog is forecast during the next three days in Beijing, the municipality's office for severe air pollution emergency response said on Thursday, issuing a yellow alert.

The yellow alert in Beijing is the first since the municipal government issued one last October. Back then it put into effect an emergency response system.

The office advised local residents to take protective measures, use public transport and reduce driving vehicles. It urged children and the elderly to stay indoors, and middle and primary schools and kindergartens to reduce outdoor activities.

The air quality index at most monitoring stations in the city's downtown areas exceeded 250 at 9 p.m. on Thursday, according to the Beijing municipal environmental monitoring center.

The environmental protection ministry said on Thursday that 74 major Chinese cities that are monitored had on average 62.4 percent of days in January which failed to meet quality standards.

The key air pollutants were PM2.5 and PM10, in which PM2.5, airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, was the primary pollutant in 92.5 percent of the days failing to meet air quality standards.

In a meeting earlier this month, the State Council, the cabinet, named the reduction of PM2.5 and other pollutants in smoggy cities as the key task in the fight against air pollution.