Beijing Issues First Smog Alert of Season, Roads Forced to Close

It’s looking pretty grim outside at the moment. Numerous areas in northing China – including Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei – were issued a yellow alert for smog on Thursday. This is the first pollution alert of the autumn season.

Many areas in Beijing saw AQI readings of over 250 on Friday morning. Visibility was cut down to 50 meters in many areas of Beijing, causing the city to shut down numerous highways leading out of the city on Thursday, South China Morning Post reports.

The heavy smog is expected to last until Saturday, when a cold front will bring strong winds to the capital and disperse the pollution.

In September, China's Ministry of Environmental Protection stated that Beijing's smog season would likely arrive earlier this year and that it is “not optimistic” about the weather forecast for the fall and winter months. “Unfavorable weather conditions" are reportedly caused by the increased melting of the Arctic icecap and the warming of the Pacific Ocean. The result is a weakening in high-pressure cold fronts hitting China from Siberia, causing warm and humid weather in Beijing.

All this means more smog for those of us living in northern China.

[Image via CNN]

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