150 Flights Into Beijing Canceled; Smog Cuts Visibility To 200 Meters; PM 2.5 Pollutants "Off Scale"

[hatrack]

More than 150 flights to and from Beijing were cancelled or delayed Tuesday as a thick cloud of acrid smog shrouded the city, with US figures saying the pollution was so bad it was off the scale.

The national meteorological centre said the Chinese capital had been hit by thick fog that reduced visibility to as little as 200 metres in some parts of the city, while official data judged air quality to be "good".

But the US embassy, which has its own pollution measuring system, said on its Twitter feed that the concentration of the smallest, most dangerous particles in the air was "beyond index" for most of the morning. The US system measures particles in the air of 2.5 micrometres or less, known as PM2.5, considered the most dangerous for people's health.

Tuesday's reading on its air quality index, which rates anything over 150 as unhealthy, over 200 as very unhealthy and over 300 as hazardous, breached the upper limit of 500, at which it stops giving figures.

EDIT

http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/flights-cancelled-as-beijing-smog-goes-off-the-scale-20120111-1pud5.html

[Nihil]

1. Wonderful ... polluting vehicles kept away from Beijing due to pollution. (n/t)

[phantom power]

2. negative feedback

we're saved!

[wtmusic]

3. The silver lining on this big, brown cloud

is that a country with 1,440 coal plants scheduled for construction may begin to encounter underwhelming public support for them.