China is the largest air polluter in the world and on Tuesday the capital Beijing and the surrounding suburbs went into emergency mode due to the unrelenting smog. Researchers have declared that China emits more than 6 billion tons of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every year, and the smog and pollution are in unrelenting in the country.

Beijing is now dealing with smog so thick that drivers can’t see the roads in front of them and the visibility is less than 10 feet or so, according to USA Today. The government has ordered schools to be closed down and students to remain indoors as the smog is highly toxic. It is the fifth day in a row that the capital city has been dealing with the persistent smog. Chinese president Xi Jinping has just returned from Paris where countries were talking about the climate change situation on the planet.

People everywhere are wearing surgical masks, and a persistent coughing can be heard everywhere. The Chinese media is reporting that schools are closed but many are operating classes online. Chine is the biggest polluter on Earth and President Jinping declared that his government was intending to do something about it. Jinping said in a public statement that climate change “is a shared mission for mankind.”

In Beijing and other highly populated cities in China, extreme smog and air pollution has become a way of life. In many of the cities, pollution reading equipment is unable to actually read how bad things are because the instruments can’t record such high levels of toxicity. Most of the giant country is currently blanketed in the toxic smog and weather reports are that it will continue through at least Wednesday.

Some of the poison readings of certain toxic chemicals should be around 25, according to the World Health Organization. Current readings in Beijing are in the 600s with many of the suburbs reading over 900. City hospitals and emergency rooms have been filled to capacity as people continue to come in with children complaining of breathing difficulties and problems with their eyes and throats.

Most of China is powered by the burning of coal which is the leading cause of the toxic smog. The ruling Communist party in the country has declared that pollution in the country should be under control within the next 10 years.