Smog Clogs Beijing

I recently heard from a friend of mine who lives in Beijing that he did not have to go to school. Monday night, Beijing city officials finally issued its first red alert on the air quality and schools and construction sites were closed. The air quality index (AQI) reached 250, which is not so rare in Beijing but treacherous for an average person’s health. It is the first time that the government admitted the bad air quality, and all schools including international and private ones closed from 8th to 10th December. Some residents questioned why the officials did not issue the red alert a week ago when the AQI went beyond 500. The officials stated that a red alert will only be issued when heavy pollution is expected to last longer than 72 hours. The air of Beijing gets especially bad during the winter when most of the homes burn coal to warm up.