China’s air pollution is so bad it’s visible from space

MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images
Doctors in Beijing said Thursday that hospital admissions for respiratory complaints rose in recent days during the latest bout of air pollution to cover northern China.
Feng Li/Getty Images
The haze choking many Chinese cities covers a total area of 500,000 square miles, the China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said Tuesday.
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Beijing urged its residents to stay indoors Wedneday as emergency measures were rolled out aimed at countering a heavy cloud of smog blanketing the Chinese capital and swathes of the country.
STR/AFP/Getty Images
A masked woman rides a bike in the heavy smog in Haozhou in central China's Anhui province on Wednesday. Across China public frustration mounted this week as dense smog blanketed swathes of the country, with even state-run media questioning the authorities' ability to meet their goal of building a "beautiful China."

PUBLISHED: February 2, 2013 at 1:09 p.m. | UPDATED: January 10, 2019 at 10:43 a.m.

China’s choking air pollution has reached new heights — with smog so thick it is visible from space.

Over the past week, the blanket of pollution over Beijing and its suburbs has left buildings in a haze and people unable to see more than 200 feet in front of their faces. Airlines have canceled flights because of poor visibility and satellite photos show smog so thick it obscures images taken from outerspace.

China’s notorious air pollution has literally gone off the charts in the northeast, with levels of dangerous particulates in the air so high in January they have gone “beyond” the measurements used to chart air quality.

A masked woman rides a bike in the heavy smog in Haozhou in central China’s Anhui province on Wednesday. Across China public frustration mounted this week as dense smog blanketed swathes of the country, with even state-run media questioning the authorities’ ability to meet their goal of building a “beautiful China.”

Particle count in Beijing regularly exceeds a level of 500 on a globally recognized index that considers above 300 “hazardous.” The World Health Organization recommends a daily level of no more than 20 (in an index that measures particulate matter in the air with a diameter of 2.5 micrometers.)

On Jan. 12 in Beijing, that particle count soared to 755, the highest on record, putting pollution in a “beyond” category, Reuters reported.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite acquired this image of northeastern China on Jan. 14 . The image shows an area about 150 miles wide. Beijing is located at the upper center of the picture, Tianjin at lower right. — The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired this image of northeastern China on Jan. 14 . The image shows an area about 150 miles wide. Beijing is located at the upper center of the picture, Tianjin at lower right.

Unregulated industry, vehicles and cheap gasoline have been blamed for the country’s stifling air pollution.

China’s state-controlled media even fessed up to a problem this week.

Doctors in Beijing said Thursday that hospital admissions for respiratory complaints rose in recent days during the latest bout of air pollution to cover northern China.

Air quality has gotten so bad it has resulted in a “surge” of respiratory illness, especially among children and the elderly, China Daily reported.

“A pediatric hospital in downtown Beijing has treated a record 9,000 children this month, mostly flu, pneumonia, tracheitis, bronchitis and asthma patients,” the report said.

The haze choking many Chinese cities covers a total area of 500,000 square miles, the China's Ministry of Environmental Protection said Tuesday. — The haze choking many Chinese cities covers a total area of 500,000 square miles, the China’s Ministry of Environmental Protection said Tuesday.

Authorities in Beijing met on Tuesday to discuss how to combat the problem, state news agency Xinhua reported.

Politicians enacted a 48-hour closure of some polluting businesses and people were were asked to stay off the roads.

“All counties, departments, businesses and institutions should take the lead in suspending the service of 30 percent of official vehicles,” Xinhua said.

Meanwhile, there is a groundswell of support for air-pollution legislation in China. Celebrity real estate developer Pan Shiyi on Tuesday called for a “Clean Air Act.”

vcavaliere@nydailynews.com