Photo: Screenshot from video by ABC News
Smog, the result of severe pollution, has led to numerous restrictions in various cities across the Globe.
The latest of them was in Northern China, where traffic was restricted based on license plate numbers, along with over 700 factories that limited or stopped production to curb the dangerous phenomenon. The situation was so severe that authorities announced a “red alert,” which is the worst of the possible alert grades.
According to ABC News, this was the first warning of its kind for this winter in that area, and it will last through Wednesday. Apparently, the issues began on Sunday, when hospitals in Beijing started receiving patients with breathing problems related to pollution.
Evidently, vehicles are not the only culprits here, as numerous factories in the area rely on coal-powered electric plants, which are extremely dangerous for the environment.
Along with other cities in China, Beijing has attempted to improve its air quality through switching from coal-based power plants to natural gas. Many cities have also acquired and deployed electric buses to curb pollution, but the number of automobiles on the road is too high to handle in an eco-friendly way.
Authorities have also resorted to a restriction system that does not allow half of the city’s vehicles on the road on a given day. The system works by forbidding drivers that have license plates ending in an odd number driving on a given day, and the restriction is changed the next day for even numbers.
Unfortunately, China has an incredible number of factories that have to serve the entire world, which restricts how much time they can stop manufacturing in those facilities. Pollution is a problem across the country, but the application of eco-friendly production measures has proven difficult in the context of the cheap products made by some of those facilities.
Some of the cities in Northern China had to close highways and airports because using them would have been too dangerous because of the cloud of smog. Authorities have yet to present a sustainable solution for the problem, which occurs across the world in various forms.
According to ABC News, this was the first warning of its kind for this winter in that area, and it will last through Wednesday. Apparently, the issues began on Sunday, when hospitals in Beijing started receiving patients with breathing problems related to pollution.
Evidently, vehicles are not the only culprits here, as numerous factories in the area rely on coal-powered electric plants, which are extremely dangerous for the environment.
Along with other cities in China, Beijing has attempted to improve its air quality through switching from coal-based power plants to natural gas. Many cities have also acquired and deployed electric buses to curb pollution, but the number of automobiles on the road is too high to handle in an eco-friendly way.
Authorities have also resorted to a restriction system that does not allow half of the city’s vehicles on the road on a given day. The system works by forbidding drivers that have license plates ending in an odd number driving on a given day, and the restriction is changed the next day for even numbers.
Unfortunately, China has an incredible number of factories that have to serve the entire world, which restricts how much time they can stop manufacturing in those facilities. Pollution is a problem across the country, but the application of eco-friendly production measures has proven difficult in the context of the cheap products made by some of those facilities.
Some of the cities in Northern China had to close highways and airports because using them would have been too dangerous because of the cloud of smog. Authorities have yet to present a sustainable solution for the problem, which occurs across the world in various forms.
Google News