Update: Shanghai Releases Another Pollution Alert

This article originally appeared on our sister website, Urban Family Shanghai.

By Yuzhou Hu

Today at noon, the blue air pollution alert was triggered again when the AQI went beyond 200, making it the second pollution alert for this week, and the year.

The residents of Shanghai experienced their first wave of pollutants on Tuesday, when the entire city was shrouded in the thick fog. Besides wearing their masks, citizens also took the opportunity to show off their artistic flair, by taking stunning pictures around town.

READ MORE: Shanghai Releases First Pollution Alert for This Year

At that time, a staff member from the Shanghai Environmental Monitoring Center (SEMC) said the situation would improve from Friday afternoon, but it doesn't seem we were so lucky.

Instead of breathing a little easier, we have now received another air pollution alert. At 11am this morning SEMC detected the AQI of Shanghai had reached 205, reaching a heavily-polluted level.

In response to the worsening situation, Shanghai officially released a blue air pollution alert at noon. Over the next 24 hours, children, the elderly and those with heart and lung diseases are advised to stay indoors. Other citizens were also advised to reduce outdoor activities. At the same time, industries such as steel, petroleum and chemicals, which tend to produce air pollutants, were ordered to reduce waste discharge and all construction work (except for emergencies) was halted.

READ MORE: Shanghai Sets New Plans to Improve Air Quality

SEMC predicts that the AQI will maintain at a high level until this evening and should start to improve from Saturday evening.

We cannot say if this time the SEMC forecast will be accurate, so let's remember to check the AQI measure before we head out, and protect ourselves and our family from this bout of heavy pollution.

This article was originally published by our sister magazine Urban Family Shanghai. For more articles like this, visit the Urban Family website, or follow the Urban Family WeChat account (ID: urbanfamilyshanghai).