Air quality in Beijing reached "hazardous" levels on Monday, according to the US embassy, which conducts its own measurements, while China's state Xinhua news agency said pollution was likely to reach "dangerous" levels.
By the middle of Monday afternoon, Beijing's main airport -- the second busiest in the world -- had cancelled 213 domestic and 15 international flights, according to its website. Another 400 flights were cancelled on Sunday.
Television footage of the airport concourse showed thousands of stranded passengers being turned away, or waiting around in hope of booking later flights if the smog lifted.
Most major motorways linking Beijing to other parts of north China were closed early Monday due to the smog, but sections of some roads began opening throughout the day as the visibility improved, CCTV reported.
International organisations including the United Nations list Beijing as one of the most polluted cities in the world, mainly due to its growing energy consumption, much of which is still fuelled by fossil fuels.
"Coal burning is the main cause of all the grey hazy days that Beijing gets," Zhou Rong, an air pollution expert with Greenpeace China told AFP.
"China has more than doubled its coal consumption in the last 10 years, so we are getting more soot in the air, as well as secondary pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide which also help cause the haze."
Beijing's nearly five million vehicles also emit a lot of the particulates that make up the capital's air pollution, she added. Read on at: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-hundreds-flights-cancelled-due-beijing.html
By the middle of Monday afternoon, Beijing's main airport -- the second busiest in the world -- had cancelled 213 domestic and 15 international flights, according to its website. Another 400 flights were cancelled on Sunday.
Television footage of the airport concourse showed thousands of stranded passengers being turned away, or waiting around in hope of booking later flights if the smog lifted.
Most major motorways linking Beijing to other parts of north China were closed early Monday due to the smog, but sections of some roads began opening throughout the day as the visibility improved, CCTV reported.
International organisations including the United Nations list Beijing as one of the most polluted cities in the world, mainly due to its growing energy consumption, much of which is still fuelled by fossil fuels.
"Coal burning is the main cause of all the grey hazy days that Beijing gets," Zhou Rong, an air pollution expert with Greenpeace China told AFP.
"China has more than doubled its coal consumption in the last 10 years, so we are getting more soot in the air, as well as secondary pollutants like sulphur dioxide and nitrous oxide which also help cause the haze."
Beijing's nearly five million vehicles also emit a lot of the particulates that make up the capital's air pollution, she added. Read on at: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-12-hundreds-flights-cancelled-due-beijing.html
