1 December 2015, 14:36 GMT
MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The Chinese capital’s authorities issued the red alert for the first time after on November 29 Beijing raised its air-pollution alert to orange, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
It is expected that the highest level of danger will last since 7 a.m. local time Tuesday (23:00 GMT Monday) till 12 a.m. Friday (16:00 GMT Thursday).
China's extended use of coal for power generation has caused Beijing, as well as other cities, to suffer from small pollutant particles known as PM2.5. The particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and cause asthma, bronchitis and exacerbate other acute respiratory diseases leading to premature death.
