Beijing air pollution: strong winds finally blow thick pall of blanketing smog from the capital
People in Beijing finally breathed in relief on Wednesday morning as strong winds dispersed the worst smog this winter that blanketed the capital for six days.
Concentrations of PM2.5, the fine pollutants deemed most harmful to health, dropped to seven micrograms per cubic metre at 8 am compared with 410 micrograms 12 hours before.
The World Health organisation says readings under 25 are safe.
READ MORE: Beijing air pollution: black humour and satire as capital is shrouded yet again in thick smog
The municipal authorities lifted a pollution alert at midnight after the air quality index dropped below 100.
It feels like I’ve survived a disaster, but who knows how long such feelings of relief will last?
“The only measure to tackle Beijing’s smog is to wait for wind,” wrote a microblogger from the capital on Wednesday morning. “Official media called on residents to join hands in fighting smog. Shall we go on the street and blow air into the smog?”
Another internet user wrote: “It feels like I’ve survived a disaster, but who knows how long such feelings of relief will last? While we are showing off photos of blue sky on social media, people from other cities might be suffering from the same smog blown away from Beijing.”
Pollutant levels in Beijing started to rise on Thursday with the PM2.5 concentrations in central areas rising to 198 micrograms per cubic meter overnight.
READ MORE: Smog soars to hazardous levels in Beijing
Since then 23 cities in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei province region have recorded air quality readings of 200 and above, deemed as seriously or hazardously polluted.
