Beijing advises umbrellas to shield against its gross snow

BEIJING – “The snow is very dirty! The snow is very dirty! The snow is very dirty!” This thrice-emphasized warning from Beijing’s Meteorological Bureau appeared on Chinese social media site Weibo on Thursday after the country’s Ministry of Environmental Protection announced the city’s average air-quality index for the past month came in at 195, with a high of 470, Time reports. To put that in context, the WHO notes that 25 is a generally safe level. And, appar