NASA releases images of Beijing air pollution An image taken by NASA's Terra satellite on January 14 shows Beijing and the surrounding area smothered by a layer of extreme air pollution. / NASA Earth Observatory China's capital city of Beijing has been swamped by off-the-charts levels of air pollution in January. New images from NASA's Earth Observatory satellite Terra shows the choking layer of smog that has descended over the city. The first image, from January 14, shows China smothered by a layer of haze. The grey and yellow-tinged clouds visable on the map are areas heavily affected by air pollution. At the time the image was taken, ground sensors at the U.S. Embassy in Beijing recorded PM2.5 measurements of 291. According to the World Health Organization, PM2.5 levels above 25 are considered unsafe. An image taken by NASA's Terra satellite of Beijing and the surrounding area on January 3. The second image, taken on January 3, presents a stark contrast to the cloudy soup in the previous picture. The country is clearly visable and tinged white from recent snowfall. Beijing and the surrounding area have been grappling with record-breaking levels of air pollution in recent days. PM2.5 measurements are taken on a scale from 0 to 500. Over the weekend of Jan 12-13, Beijing saw levels over 700. By Monday, levels had declined to about 350 micrograms on the Beijing government scale -- down from its peak but still way above the level of 25 considered safe by the World Health Organization.