Hazardous Air Pollution Levels Trigger Orange Alert for Beijing

Summary: Hazardous air pollution levels trigger issuance of an orange alert for Beijing Sunday, Nov. 29, by the Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection.

Retired PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) partner (1976-2004) Paul Gillis has taught accounting, auditing and finance at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management at Peking university since 2007: Paul Gillis @ProfGillis, via Twitter Nov. 30, 2015

On Sunday, Nov. 29, 2015, city officials issued an orange alert for Beijing as readings of toxic PM2.5 scaled hazardous levels in the coal-driven smoggy air of China’s industrious capital city.

The U.S. Embassy, which has been tweeting PM2.5 levels via a rooftop air-quality monitor since 2008, began detecting unhealthy levels on Thursday, Nov. 26. The next day, tweets of very unhealthy levels shifted to hazardous levels at 1:00 p.m. An extremely hazardous high of 666 micrograms per cubic meter was tweeted at 8:00 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 30.

The World Health Organization has set the safe level of PM2.5 at 25.

The Ministry of Environmental Protection, an executive branch cabinet-level ministry at the national level, has linked the smog that has enshrouded Beijing and vast areas of northern China to a medley of meteorological factors, such as high humidity, unfavorable weather and no wind. Extremely cold weather throughout November was responsible for increased use of coal, the city’s main heating method.

Also on Sunday, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Environmental Protection announced halted production for over 2,100 major companies. The bureau ordered stoppage of all construction work throughout Beijing.

Despite the acute air pollution hazards, 100 percent compliance with the bureau’s orders was not observed. Inspectors discovered violations of orange alert restrictions at 12 out of 545 companies visited on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Violations included failure to suspend work at a Dongfeng Nissan factory and possible air-release of dust by uncovered building materials at a construction site at the China University of Political Science and Law.

The alert issued on Sunday is the first orange alert for Beijing for 2015. An orange alert for Beijing was issued in February 2014. The orange alert ranks as the second highest in the city’s four-level warning system. A windy forecast of strong, cold air for Wednesday, Dec. 2, influenced the decision to issue an orange alert instead of the highest level, a red alert.

Particulate matter, which floats in the air, often invisibly as individual particles, in microscopic sizes of less than 2.5 micrometers, is known as PM2.5. Sized 100 times thinner than human hair, 2.5 particles are made up of heavy metals and toxic organic compounds that are released into the atmosphere by automobiles, burning vegetation (brush fires, forest fires, yard waste), construction site dust and industrial process (smelting, etc.).

PM2.5 is credited with causing serious cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses. The tiny particles easily enter the blood stream and deeply invade the lungs.

Amid such stringent counter-measures as face masks and drastically reduced outdoor activities, the city of 22.5 million residents coped with humor by tweeting hand-outlined images of smog-shrouded landmarks. In a popular online joke, a listener called a Beijing radio broadcaster with worries about traffic violations for running eight barely visible red lights.

The broadcaster assured the frantic caller with the punch line: “Don’t worry. The heavy orange alert instead of the highest level, a red alert.

Tiananmen Gate (left); China Central Television Tower (upper right); Monument to the People's Heroes (middle right); Beijing business district skyscraper (lower right): China Xinhua News @XHNews, via Twitter Dec. 1, 2015

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Retired PWC (PricewaterhouseCoopers) partner (1976-2004) Paul Gillis has taught accounting, auditing and finance at Peking University's Guanghua School of Management at Peking university since 2007: Paul Gillis @ProfGillis, via Twitter Nov. 30, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/ProfGillis/status/671307772852441089

Tiananmen Gate (left); China Central Television Tower (upper right); Monument to the People's Heroes (middle right); Beijing business district skyscraper (lower right): China Xinhua News @XHNews, via Twitter Nov. 30, 2015, @ https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/671582001279991808

For further information:

Beijing Air @BeijingAir. "11-30-2015 20:00;PM2.5; 666.0; 609; Beyond Index (at 24-hour exposure at this level)." Twitter. Nov. 30, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/BeijingAir/status/671301675244654592

Buckley, Chris, and Adam Wu. "Amid a Smog Wave, an Artist Molds a Potent Symbol of Beijing's Pollution." The New York Times > World > Asia Pacific. Dec. 1, 2015.
Available @ http://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/02/world/asia/beijing-smog-air-pollution-artist-brick.html

China Xinhua News @XHNews. "Lost in Beijing! Netizens outline iconic buildings that are utterly invisible amid the worst #smog this year." Twitter. Nov. 30, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/XHNews/status/671582001279991808

Eckhardt, Sean. "Beijing Leaders Talk Climate in Paris While Residents Sit in Record Smog." Take Part. Nov. 30, 2015.
Available @ http://www.takepart.com/article/2015/11/30/beijing-worst-air-pollution

Jinran, Zheng. "Amid severe smog, Beijing orders halt to production." China Daily. Dec. 1, 2015.
Available @ http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2015-12/01/content_22593389.htm

"Opinion: How The US Embassy Tweeted To Clear Beijing's Air." Wired > Opinion. March 6, 2015.
Available @ http://www.wired.com/2015/03/opinion-us-embassy-beijing-tweeted-clear-air/

Paul Gillis @ProfGillis. "'@Beijing Air: 11-30-2015 20:00; PM2.5; 666.0; 609; Beyond Index (at 24-hour exposure at this level)' Airpocolypse Now." Twitter. Nov. 30, 2015.
Available @ https://twitter.com/ProfGillis/status/671307772852441089