SkyDuring this winter break, I went back to my hometown Beijing, China. And I have witnessed one of the most serious air pollution in human history.The sky was covered with sand and smog which includes all kinds of deadly chemical particles, creating a cocktail of air pollutants that shrouded the city’s skyline in a thick brown haze.The concentration of the pollutants were so high that the air can block the vision. People have to drive and walk extremely slow in case of the safety issue. It is barely possible to see clearly 50 meters in front of you.
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(China Foto Press/Getty Images)
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(credit: Kim Kyung-Hoo)
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PeopleI still remember there is one day, all the residents received text messages from Beijing's government warning them that all schools would be closed, construction halted and car restrictions put in place. "Stay indoors," was the instruction and suggestion that in the text message. Even in the normal days, if people go out of their home to work, study, and travel, wearing a mask is the most common sense in Beijing. I have been in Beijing for a week, and never have seen anyone on the street who does not wearing a mask.
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There is a report about Beijing’s weather indicates that there is only three day in a month people can actually see the blue sky. Imagining spend all your life in such places, the expectancy will cut in half only because not enough time expose under the sunshine. However, the such hazardous pollution does damage human body permanently and deadly.
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But In my memory, this was not the Beijing I have spend My 18 years. Beijing used to be like...
Photo Credit: David Gedawei