China's capitol Beijing has just announced an all-new high with its pollution crisis: It has issued its first ever "Red Alert" over the bustling city's smog.
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The city will go into shutdown, closing schools and limiting construction and other activities, to protect its residents from the toxic effects of the poisonous fog from Dec. 8 until Dec. 10.
While this is the first time that China's capitol has issued such a warning — the highest of its kind — the country has been choking on smog for decades. Just last month, smog levels in China crept up to about 50 times more than the World Health Organization deems safe.
China has also been heavily scrutinized as the world's top emitter of greenhouse gases from coal. Data released in early November suggest China burns 17% more coal per year than its government had reported. This means that it releases nearly a billion tons more carbon dioxide — a potent greenhouse gas — into the atmosphere than was previously thought, The New York Times reports.
An estimated 4,000 people die every day from pollution in China. Here are 25 photos of what day-to-day life is like in a cloud of toxic smog.
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November 3 was such a hazy day Harbin, a city in the northeast corner of China, that this boy wore a mask to feed the pigeons outside.
Some kindergartens and schools were closed that day.
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Still, many people just go about their business, even when the pollution reaches dangerous levels.
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The skyline of Shenyang looked dark and gray on this polluted November day.
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An aerial view of the smog shrouding Rizhao, a coastal city that has come under fire for not providing its residents with enough information about its air quality.
Sales of the industrial-grade face masks worn by construction workers in the US have spiked in China, where people wear them just to step outside. Such masks are more effective — and much less popular — than cotton ones.
During the 2014 "Guangzhu (naked) Run" — which aims to promote environmentally-friendly lifestyles — one participant was spotted wearing a gas mask as he jogged through the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing.
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