A year after Beijing's municipal government said that it would report more realistic assessments of the city's air quality, pollution in China's capital soared to unprecedented heights. City officials last week asked construction sites and industries to limit their activities and told residents to stay indoors, as concentrations of fine particles (those less than 2.5 micrometres across) rose to record levels many times above what the World Health Organization considers 'hazardous'. With smog blanketing cities across northern China, state media urged the government to take action on air pollution.
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