Shanghai suffered the worst air quality since 2001 as the
effects of sandstorms in China's north moved south yesterday.
Local conditions were so bad that children and the elderly were
cautioned to remain indoors.
Skies are expected to improve today, but airborne dust will
probably still remain in the severely polluted range.
Sandstorms began last week in Inner Mongolia and spread across
northern China from Beijing in the east to Kashgar in the west.
Dust clouds started to move into the middle and lower reaches of
the Yangtze River yesterday, according to the Shanghai
Meteorological Bureau's environmental center.
Suspended particles yesterday reached a high of 0.623 milligrams
per cubic meter of air, six times higher than the annual average
last year, the center said.
The city's air pollution index hit 500 yesterday, the highest
since 2001. The grade-five reading - the index maximum - carries a
"severely polluted" rating.
A cold front that began moving into the city on Sunday is
expected to strengthen today and push out some of the dusty
air.
Today's air quality is forecast to improve only to within 300,
or grade four, however.
In comparison, only two other days in the past seven years had a
grade-four or worse rating.
The Shanghai Environmental Protection Bureau warned children and
senior citizens to stay indoors as much as possible until
conditions improve.
The high today will fall slightly to 13 degrees Celsius from
yesterday's 14.3 degrees. The low will drop to five degrees from
10.5 degrees.
Skies should be sunny to partly cloudy, the weather bureau
said.
Warmer weather is on the horizon starting tomorrow, with
temperatures rising gradually above 15 degrees on Thursday. The
chance of rain will also increase later in the week.
(Shanghai Daily April 3, 2007)
