Heavy smog forces factories to close in Beijing
(AGI) Beijing, Dec 2 - Factories have closed in Beijing after afifth day of heavy smog. Chinese authorities ordered more than2,100 factories emitting high levels of prollutants to stopproduction, calling a halt to all building yard operations. Athick greyish-yellow cloud hangs over the city, reducingvisibility to only a couple of dozen metres. The pollutionindicator at the U.S. Embassy showed that particulate matter(PM) measured 588 microgrammes per square metre of air early onWednesday afternoon, one of its highest levels yet. Tinyparticles of PM 2.5 reached more than 400 micrograms per cubicmetre