China renews orange alert as choking smog continues to hit

China today renewed the orange alert for air pollution as most northern cities saw another day of choking smog and poor visibility leading to delays and cancellation of a number of flights.
Moderate to heavy smog will stay in the Beijing-Tianjin- Hebei region, as well as some areas in Henan, Shanxi, Shaanxi, Jilin, Heilongjiang, Liaoning provinces this morning with visibility of less than 200 meters, according to the National Meteorological Centre (NMC).
The poor visibility has caused widespread flight delays and cancellations at Beijing Capital International Airport, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
The NMC has forecast that a cold front will help disperse the smog later in the day.

China has a four-tier colour-coded system for severe weather with red being the most serious followed by orange, yellow and blue.
After experiencing frequent bouts of smog, the Chinese public has become increasingly sensitive to the health hazard.
To address public concerns, the government aims to cut the density of inhalable particulate matter by at least 10 per cent in major cities by 2017, the report said.