Dense fog envelops the new headquarters of China Central Television in Beijing on Sunday. Photo: Wang Zi/GT
Heavy fog enveloped several northern and eastern regions of China Sunday, closing expressways and delaying or canceling over 100 flights in Beijing.
The foggy weather hit nine cities and provinces including Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Henan, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu Sunday morning, with visibility in Beijing and Tianjin reduced to 200 meters, according to the National Meteorological Center.
The Beijing Meteorological Center issued its first yellow alarm of the autumn on heavy fog at 7:15 am and forecast the fog would last another six hours.
Twenty-five flights from Beijing Capital International Airport were canceled and 88 more delayed by 10:45 am, the airport's operator told the Xinhua News Agency.
"The situation in the morning was very severe, and airlines have arranged for passengers to rest and wait at the airport. We have initiated an emergency plan for foggy weather and order has been maintained, especially after the fog lifted a little bit at around 1 pm," an employee with the media office of the airport told the Global Times Sunday.
"According to information we received from the weather forecast, fog will continue to fall in Beijing for three days. The airport has contacted airlines to make sure that all passengers can board under the guarantee of traveling safely," she said.
Meanwhile, the fog forced the temporary closure of six expressways in Beijing, but traffic in the downtown areas was not much affected on the weekend, according to local police authorities.
Shandong also shut down 14 entrances to highways Sunday morning following the yellow alert.
The center said that a cold front would sweep North China over the next three days, bringing winds and a temperature drop of 4C to 6C to the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and Northeast China.
The pollution index read "poor" in Beijing, with "particulate matter" to blame. The next level up is "hazardous" and the local environment bureau advised citizens to stay indoors if possible, Reuters reported.
"Pollution, especially particulate emission, increases the frequency of fog or haze. Beijing was hit by a haze just two weeks ago. All these things warn us that we are suffering from the consequences of pollution and we need to do something to reverse that," Yang Fuqiang, senior advisor of the US-based NGO Natural Resources Defense Council, told the Global Times Sunday.
Yang said that foggy or hazy weather is not just harmful to people's health, causing greater occurrence of respiratory disease, but also leads to heavy economic losses.
"No one is doing the math of how much we're paying for polluted weather such as fees for medical care and delays in transportation. But I believe it's huge, which is why reducing pollution needs our great attention," Yang said.