Tourists walk on the Tiananmen Square in haze in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 7, 2015.(Photo: Xinhua/Liu Xianguo)
(Ecns) -- China's northern region experienced its worst levels of smog during the past few days, partly due to the rise of straw burning, according to China's top environment authority.
Strong winds cleared the sky in Beijing on Thursday after the city chocked for days in "severely polluted" air registering "more than 400 mcg PM 2.5 per cubic meter" as suggested by official figures.
Analysts with Beijing's environmental bureau believe damp weather with less air flow has joined hands with the increasing pollutant to cause poor air quality.
Many other areas were also plagued by prolonged smoggy weather. China's Ministry of Environmental Protection monitored polluted or heavily polluted air in some regions of North and Northeast China from October 4 to 7. Smog and fog have also reduced visibility to less than 1 km in these parts, as well as the Southwest Sichuan Basin.
The environmental authority has detected 376 straw burning sites nationwide over the past week, 53 more than during the same period last year, with most situated in northern provinces. The traditional farming activity is believed to be a large contributor to air pollution. Meanwhile, the country also saw a significant increase in traffic during the smog-hit period as people returned home at the end of the week-long National Day holiday.
