Coming Soon: "Smog Days" that Shut Down Schools?

So now we know that the smog we're breathing in practically every day can cause cancer.

We also know that the government intends to throw a ton of money (nearly 5 trillion yuan) at the problem and has announced plans to implement a spate of new measures, including:

• Washing the streets on "Blue" ("Heavy") alert days, when the AQI is between 201-300) and "Yellow" ("Serious") days, when the AQI exceeds 300.
• Closing factories and construction sites, banning barbecues and setting off fireworks on "Orange" alert days.
• Restricting cars based on even and odd plates and closing schools on "red alert" days (when the AQI exceeds 300 over a 3-day period).

Similar measures, including the closure of schools, were already put into effect in Harbin yesterday, where much like the abysmal days Beijing experienced this past January, the PM 2.5 readings have been airpocalyptically horrible this past week (with AQI readings of over 500).

Keep reading on beijing-kids.com.

Photo: Jerry Chan