More Chinese cities issue red alerts for heavy smog

BEIJING (AP) — More Chinese cities are issuing their first red alerts for pollution in response to forecasts of heavy smog, after the capital, Beijing, issued two this month following criticism for not releasing them earlier.

Shandong province in eastern China issued alerts in four cities after warning that the density of particulate matter in the air would exceed high levels for more than 24 hours. The Shandong environmental protection bureau said the alerts started Thursday morning and that kindergarten, primary and middle schools should close and construction of buildings and roads, and demolition work, should stop.

China's air pollution is notorious after three decades of breakneck economic growth. In recent years, the government has said it is trying to address the problem as citizens have become increasingly aware of the dangers.

Meteorological authorities in Hebei, a province which neighbors Beijing and is regarded as China's most polluted, issued its first red alert for smog on Tuesday. Cities in Hebei took response measures. Xingtai and Handan instigated traffic control measures to take half the vehicles off the road on a given day, according to Hebei's environmental protection bureau.

The first red alert in the port city of Tianjin, which is also close to Beijing, ended Thursday morning after three days.

Beijing issued its first two red alerts in December under a four-tier warning system that has been in place for two years. It had earlier experienced more hazardous levels of pollution, but environmental authorities said that their forecasting model must predict three or more days of smog at particular levels on the city's air quality index.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-12-24

It is not just after 3 decades of growth - I lived there for 3 months in spring of 1979 when there were almost no cars or construction and often you could not see across the street as open burning was the only cooking or heat source.

Worse than what was during the Industrial Revolution of England due to the popularity of the combustion engine...

The price to be paid to produce all that cheap worthless crap to export to the world. Profit not people count in this day and age. SAD

YES YES, state owned coal plants turn on the heating for all the homes. Happens every year same time. nothing new.

A lot of the cars are very expensive holding very low emissions , These are the best in business, Nice little deviation from the real truth. what are the emmission reading on lamborghinis these days??

Fact 1: cheap worthless crap is generally made in southern provinces hence bad air in hong kong guangzhou , shenzhen etc zhejiang, zhangjiang

Fact 2: North is firing up of coal plants which generally unregulated and lack sophistication of modern times. provinces Mongolia, beijing , shenyang harbin zhengzhou , air blows south from Arctic winds coming down from Russia ..

Fact 3: Air is worse in southern provinces then the northern neighbours due to plastic components in the air. Technically it worse to live in Hong Kong .

We all die anyway

Go to Thailand....live cheap.......but get surprise that takes 30-years of your health away.......

pollution kills......save your life..... run!!!!

Actually there has been very little coal used in Thailand since the trains converted to diesel about 30 years ago as it is not required for heating and only about 16% of electric is based on coal.

Actually there has been very little coal used in Thailand since the trains converted to diesel about 30 years ago as it is not required for heating and only about 16% of electric is based on coal.

Indeed much of it is natural gas powered.

Then what are we choking on in Bangkok? Imported Chinese smog?

If you are choking in Bangkok perhaps too many Thai peppers - although there will be areas where construction or traffic will make air less than ideal find burning peppers to be the most likely these days.

All cultures are equal.

No one really cared when the big bucks were being made. Now the chickens are coming home to roost. At least with smog, the rich in their mansions are just as affected as the poor serfs in their slums. Expect to see major relocation by the rich to cleaner areas of China.