Chinese pollution has reached its highest levels since record-keeping began, creating a dangerous, hazy scene in several towns.

In Shenyang, in northeastern China, pollution levels , according to Xinhua News Agency. For comparison, China's government said pollution levels are unhealthy.

This picture taken on Nov. 8, 2015 shows Chinese residents walking along a pedestrian bridge in Shenyang, China's Liaoning province.

(STR/AFP/Getty Images)

The highest pollution level ever recorded was inPalangkaraya, Indonesia, during illegal burning in September, according to CNN.

CNN reported that the pollution got thicker over the weekend as temperatures plummeted and. This filled the air with smog that has now reached historic levels. The pollution was also worsened by farmers who burned straw after the fall harvest, Xinhua said.

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"Many cities in China, including the northeastern provinces, use coal as the major heat generator, which pushes up air pollution levels," said Changchun city official Zhang Bin, in an interview with Xinhua.

Measures were recently announced to help slow the increase in pollution across China, but those improvements have not yet shown. As the smog got thicker over the weekend, many residents about the quality of their air, the National Post reported.

"Waiting for the wind to change is how the government deals with air pollution," one person said, according to the National Post.

A recent study in the journal PLOS One found about one in six premature deaths in China – a total of 1.6 million per year –.

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A couple in protective masks walk under haze in Shanghai, China, Friday, Dec. 6, 2013. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)