'Red alert' shuts Beijing down for a second time this year

The legacy of unbridled economic growth
- Beijing paralysed by smog.

China’s capital city issued a “red alert” for pollution on Friday, hard on the heels of its first-ever such warning earlier in December, as Beijing’s leadership vowed to crack down on often hazardous levels of smog.

Authorities in the Chinese capital warned the city would be shrouded by heavy pollution from Saturday until next Tuesday, prompting the highest-level warning that leads to emergency responses such as limiting car use and closing schools.

After decades of unbridled economic growth, China’s leadership has vowed to tackle heavy air, water and soil pollution, including the thick smog that often blankets major cities.

Read The Guardian story - “Beijing grinds to halt as second ever 'red alert' issued over severe smog.”

(It is rather difficult to say anything good about ‘unbridled economic growth” when its legacy is evidenced by the paralysing of Beijing twice this year, the latest being just this month, when life-threatening smog forced a “red alert” that led to a partial shut-down of the city

 - Robert McLean).