Unrelenting smog has brought life across major cities in northern China to a complete standstill. As a result, several schools and factories were forced to shut down, while normal operations of hospitals and air flights have been severely affected.

To cope with overwhelming the smog, the Chinese government issued a red alert last Friday across several northern cities including Beijing. As part of the alert, government issued several precautionary measures such as putting a cap on traffic, shutting factories, and urging citizens to stay indoors.

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Several environmentalists have already described the current smog spell as the worst spell of 2016.

China's People's Daily reported that a good number of hospitals in the port city of Tianjin, which is located 100 miles southeast of Beijing, have witnessed sporadic rise in asthma and other respiratory cases.

A report filed by the Associated Press Reports claimed that on Tuesday, operations in 700 companies were halted as well as more than 200 flights in Beijing were severely affected.

Over the years, pollution alerts have been a common occurrence in China's northern part, which is an industrial heartland of the country. With failure to limit pollution, smog has become an unrelenting theme in Beijing and other important cities in Northern China.

The failure, according to experts, is due to the government's inability to balance environmental needs and industrial growth. However, the Chinese government is still credited for taking several important steps that has successfully helped in coping with pollution problem.  

This year, the government took by far the most important step by ratifying the Paris Climate Agreement. The ratification by Chinese parliament paved the way for implementation of the agreement across China. The agreement that was signed by more than 200 countries at Paris in December 2015 aims to bring down the level of green house gases across the world.   

TagsNorthern China, China smog, china, air pollution china