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Air pollution in Beijing has reached a dangerous level, which prompted the World Health Organization
to call it a crisis and call for immediate action.
The toxic, heavy smog has been choking the Chinese capital for the past week or so.
Connie Lee reports. You can barely see it, but the city of Beijing is there...
under a thick blanket of smog. It's the sixth day in a row of hazardous pollution
in the city -- and now the World Health Organization has
called China's smog a crisis.
"We are very concerned. We have to see this as a crisis. A crisis means we have to take
immediate action to protect ourselves."
Chinese environmental inspection teams have been dispatched to 12 factories nationwide...
and there are reports that authorities have shut down or fined certain factories for not
following pollution regulations.
Pollution levels in Beijing are above 450... on an air quality index-- that's nine times
the level deemed safe for humans. Beijing has been under an "orange alert" since
Monday -- the city's second-highest warning level.
Residents are being asked to wear masks or stay indoors... and hospitals are reportedly
crowded with patients suffering from respiratory problems.
"Children and older citizens are more susceptible to breathing problems... and the smog makes
people cough a lot, too."
If and when the pollution alert reaches the highest warning level,... drivers will only
be allowed on the road on alternate days based on their license plate numbers... and schools
will be shut down. Meanwhile, meteorologists say that cold air
coming from the north is expected to decrease smog levels in China starting Wednesday night,...
which could, in turn, also lessen the fine dust and smog coming into Korea.
Connie Lee, Arirang News.