Beijing chokes amid second winter snowfall

Beijing saw its second snowfall of the year on Thursday morning, but it failed to clean the capital's foul air. Snow fell in the northern mountainous regions in the morning, and a small amount was observed in some other areas of the city, but that did not seem to help clear the air pollution. As of 8:00 a.m., the entire city was suffering "serious" pollution, according to the Beijing Municipal Environmental Monitoring Center (BMEMC). The poor air quality was a result of low wind speed and high humidity, conditions which are not conducive to clearing the air, said a source with the BMEMC, adding that such weather is likely to continue. The first winter snowfall glistened in Beijing early last Friday, the second latest arrival in the capital for over 60 years. It dramatically reduced PM2.5 readings, statistics from the BMEMC showed.