From the dizzying heights of a skyscraper in Beijing, the scale of China’s pollution problem becomes apparent.<br /><br /> The north of the country was shrouded in hazardous levels of smog for a fifth day, disrupting flights, traffic and closing factories and schools.<br /><br /> Hundreds of inspectors were out to enforce temporary bans on barbecues and ensure cars with even number plates were the only ones on the road.<br /><br /> With plunging temperatures, the pollution goes up as power and heating demands rise in the winter months.<br /><br /> The sheer volume of pollution highlights the environmental cost of resurgent coal production in the world’s second largest economy.<br /><br /> “Clearly the government is not trying to hide this away. Everybody is talking about the pollution, the Premier minister (Li Keqiang) has called for a war against pollution and there are very many investments going into making the air better. However, what we see today are the consequences of the sins of probably a whole generation – of development, fast development, which clearly did not have the environment at its centre,” explained Dr Bernhard Schwartlander from the World Health Organisation.<br /><br /> Truly astonishing that today we can have this level of pollution. You literally cannot see 10 feet outside of the train. #China pic.twitter.com/Zes00mIeGB— Tom Dowd (@TomDowdCGN) December 20, 2016<br /><br /> Millions of people are at risk of suffering from the effects of airborne pollutants, which were up to 100 times higher than the safe limit in some regions.<br /><br /> “I’m worried about (the pollution) as there are so many (pollution) particles (in the air). Unlike the old times when I was a kid, it was just fog, not smog,” remarked one Beijing local to a reporter.<br /><br /> One study linked pollution in China to 1.6 million deaths per year.<br /><br /> The issue is weighing heavily on the government as it prepares to host the Winter Olympics in 2022.<br /><br /> “I think the measures (the government has taken) should be comprehensive. (The measures) should not only focus on shutting down factories and limiting cars when a red alert is issued. This measure can only scratch the surface (of the problem). I think they should change the economic development structure,” said one Beijing resident.<br /><br /> The transition away from coal power is a slow one. It will take years before the benefits of measures taken to quell the so-called airpocalypse have an effect, in the meantime millions are paying for the cost of China’s economic growth with their health.<br />
