<Anchor> An
air pollution warning was issued for the first time this fall in Beijing, China. The air seems to have deteriorated as the heating started when burning coal, and there is also a forecast that fine dust may increase in China until next spring.
This is Beijing Correspondent Ji-Sung Kim.
<Reporter>
The sky over Beijing has turned cloudy.
High-rise buildings in the city center are almost unrecognizable.
It's a highway toll booth on the outskirts of Beijing.
As fine dust and fog overlapped, visibility decreased and the highway was blocked in both directions.
Today (5th), there are about 10 highways that are closed for one day.
Beijing issued an air pollution yellow warning for the first time this fall since yesterday afternoon.
The air quality index was 218, a 'severe' out of 6 air pollution levels.
Kindergartens and schools at all levels have suspended outdoor activities.
Air pollution is caused by an increase in the influx of pollutants while the air is stagnant.
[China state-run CCTV: (Beijing) started heating 10 days earlier than usual by moving up the heating system test. The test operation rate reaches 99.65%.]
This air pollution was predicted to improve tomorrow night, but there was also a forecast that the generation of fine dust could increase until next spring.
[China's state-run CCTV: This winter and next spring, the probability of occurrence of yellow dust and fine dust is high, and the frequency of occurrence is expected to increase compared to the previous year.]
Our meteorological authorities say that fine dust usually occurs due to a mixture of domestic and foreign factors, From the end of last month, as the direction of the wind changes from east to northwest, it is predicted that factors originating from China may increase.
(Video coverage: Choi Duk-hyun, video editing: Choi Hye-young, CG: Park Dong-soo, Kang Kyung-rim)