Beijing continues to be shrouded in haze, and forecasters anticipate deteriorating conditions in other parts of northern China. Experts attribute the prolonged haze in Beijing to poor atmospheric diffusion caused by unseasonably weak cold air currents from the north. While a significant drop in temperature from northwest-bound cold air is expected to help disperse the smog, visibility in Beijing has already fallen to less than 500 meters.
Tourists and residents alike in Beijing express their concerns about the worsening smog. A 24-year-old tourist from Beijing, surnamed Gao, commented, “I didn’t expect the smog to be so bad these days. The masks I’ve brought are almost used up.”
In certain areas, the situation is exacerbated by heavy winter fog, causing visibility to plunge to less than 50 meters in parts of Hebei province and Tianjin city. The environment ministry anticipates moderate to heavy air pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region and surrounding cities, with short periods of severe conditions, persisting until Thursday.
While conditions are expected to improve in the northern part of the region during the first half of this month, southern areas may continue to grapple with pollution. An 82-year-old Beijing resident, surnamed Liu, remarked, “The overall environment is getting better in recent years, but in the past few days, the smog has returned. We’re not sure what’s exactly causing it.”
Unseasonably warm temperatures, similar to early summer, have been recorded, with some areas experiencing temperatures 10 degrees Celsius above normal. These conditions are expected to persist until Thursday, and records are likely to be broken in major cities like Jinan, Zhengzhou, and Shijiazhuang.
Notably, the Beijing observatory recorded an average temperature in the last ten days of October that was 3.4 degrees Celsius higher than normal, breaking records for the same period since 1961, according to local media reports. Additionally, the average temperature for the month ranked as the second-highest in 62 years, following the record set in 2006.
However, beginning Thursday night, a cold front is expected to push temperatures lower, potentially reaching new lows.