Beijing is covered with thick haze
The weather is hot and humid for the past few days. There is a dense haze covers the city with visibility no more than a few hundred meters. According to the official reports, the haze is a mix with humidity and air pollutant. There is no wind and so the pollutant stays in the haze.
China Daily says that officials are considering emergency plans to reduce the pollution. The plan may include measures such as cutting off 90% of the private vehicles on the street and temporarily shutting down some factories surround Beijing. This actually means a near complete shutdown of the Beijing transportation and limit most of the local resident’s lives, a dramatic and very alarming measure. The effectiveness of such measure remains to be seen and the internet BBS is already filled with the negative concerns with such a unpresedented measure.
I took the following pictures while I was hiking up the fragrance hill today. Comparing this picture with the picture that I took about two weeks ago (on July 12), one can easily see the haze that covers the city. Beijing living in Beijing for the past 4 years, I personally feel (without stringent statistics to backup), the clear air day (defines a day with no visible haze) has increased over the years. But with the haze like this, there is a lot to be down during and after the Olympics.
July 28, 2008 taken from the Frangrance Hill (Beijing, China)
July 12, 2008 taken from the Frangrance Hill (Beijing, China). I wish the Beijing sky is always like this.