Heavy pollution continues in many cities in northern China

　　China News Service, Beijing, February 13 (Reporter Ruan Yulin) On the 13th, severe air pollution continued in northern China.

　　The China National Environmental Monitoring Station forecasted that on the 13th, atmospheric diffusion conditions were unfavorable, with moderate to severe pollution in the central and southern Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, western Shandong and northern Henan.

Monitoring showed that at 10 o'clock on the 13th, Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Handan, Changchun, Xi'an, Dezhou and other places had severe air pollution, and Hohhot, Xianyang and other places had severe pollution.

　　According to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment, during the Spring Festival (from 19:00 on the 11th to 6:00 on the 12th), 47 of the 339 cities at prefecture-level and above in the country had air quality levels of severe or above pollution, and 13 of them reached severe pollution levels. .

　　Affected by the concentrated discharge of fireworks and firecrackers, the hourly concentration of PM2.5 (fine particulate matter) in cities across the country rose rapidly from 19:00 on the 11th to 2:00 on the 12th.

At 2 o'clock on the 12th, the hourly average concentration of PM2.5 in 339 cities at prefecture-level and above reached 125 micrograms per cubic meter. A total of 82 cities across the country had an hourly average concentration of PM2.5 greater than 150 micrograms per cubic meter, reaching severe and above pollution. The hourly average concentration of PM2.5 in 42 cities is greater than 250 micrograms per cubic meter, which is a serious pollution.

　　The analysis shows that the air quality of 339 cities nationwide on the night of New Year's Eve in 2021 is generally the same as that of the same period last year, and the maximum hourly average concentration of PM2.5 is the same as that of the night of last year's New Year's Eve, an average drop of 11.9% over the past three years.

　　Observation results show that due to the concentration of fireworks and firecrackers, the concentration of the characteristic components of PM2.5 in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding cities in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding areas increased significantly, including potassium, chloride, magnesium ions, and sulfuric acid. The concentration of related characteristic components such as salt, copper, iron, lead, etc., in Beijing, Langfang, Dezhou, and Tangshan, has risen particularly prominently.

　　Forecasts show that in the early morning of the 14th, affected by the weak cold air from the northeast, the pollution situation in Beijing, Tianjin and central and eastern Hebei has improved. Central and southern Hebei, western Shandong and northern Henan may maintain moderate to severe pollution levels.

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