Pollution in capital region to linger until Thursday

Hazy air will linger in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei cluster until Thursday, with only a short break in some places, because of unfavorable meteorological conditions for dispersing air pollutants, experts said.

Low wind speeds from the southwest - as slow as 3.6 kilometers per hour - resulted in the accumulation of air pollutants along the Taihang Mountains starting on Saturday morning, and those were then carried to Beijing.

Temperature inversions, which prevent normal churn of the atmosphere, and high humidity worsened the situation, according to a statement from a national joint research center on air pollution causes and control.