A thick and dangerous blanket of smogginess is currentlyenveloping Beijing and parts of Eastern China , forcing authorities to issue an “ orange ” qui vive — the second highest level of a four - tiered pollution scale . Here ’s what it looks like from space .
The timing could n’t be worse for China , as theCOP21 Climate Change conferencestarts this hebdomad . The pollution , the most severe of the year , is squeeze masses to remain indoors , put a stop to construction , and shut out down factories .
Here ’s what the NASA Earth Observatoryhas to say about the satellite photo :
TheVisible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite(VIIRS ) on theSuomi NPPsatellite acquired this natural - color image of northeasterly China on November 30 , 2015 . The picture prove extensive daze , depleted clouds , and fog over the region . The brightest areas are clouds or fog , which have undertone of gray or yellow because of the air contamination . Other cloud - detached country have a pall of grey-headed daze that mostly blot out the metropolis below . In areas where the earth is visible , some of the landscape painting is covered with Charles Percy Snow . The haze extended sou'-west from Beijing for hundreds of kilometers and was particularly dense in low - lying areas in the Guanzhong Plain .
Here are some close - ups of the stricken expanse .
NASA allege that many of the particles in the haze are sulfate aerosols , which are produced by cut ember . What ’s more , coal fires , in plus to releasing CO2 , emit S dioxide , which intermingles with water vapor in the atmosphere . Together , this creates small droplets and crystals of sulphuric dot , along with other sulfates .
Given that China utilize ember to supply two - third of its energy , this smog should hardly come up as a surprise .
More atNASA ’s Earth Observatory .
Chinafuture earthPollutionScienceSmog
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