Smog warning system to be unified

The meteorological authorities have said it will no longer release separate smog alerts to avoid contradicting information from environmental authorities.

Provincial and city weather bureaus received a notice from the top authority telling them to stop issuing forecasts for smog levels, according to a picture shared on Sina Weibo on Tuesday evening.

An official at the China Meteorological Administration, who did not want to be named, confirmed the notice on Wednesday, saying it was an internal document and has not been released publicly.

The official said the administration has approached environmental authorities to discuss further cooperation on smog warnings.

Many local weather authorities, including in Beijing, also confirmed that they received the notice, and no smog forecast was issued for Beijing on Wednesday.

Although not forbidding them to forecast smog, it indicates the country is planning to build a unified forecasting system on smog, a suggestion backed by weather and environmental authorities.

Song Ying jie, a weather forecaster, wrote on social media that the two departments may be working to make it happen to avoid conflicting weather reports.

A mechanism for a unified early warning system is under discussion, and the environmental authorities’ smog forecast services have not been affected.

With smog having smothered Beijing and surrounding regions in recent weeks, frequent early warnings have been issued, but the weather and environmental authorities have sometimes issued different warnings, causing confusion.

Currently, smog forecasts from weather authorities are only for advisory purposes.

Air pollution alerts issued by environmental authorities — which involve a fourtier system, with red being the most severe, followed by orange, yellow and blue — can trigger restrictions such as suspension of production, limited use of cars and the temporary closing of schools.

“It’s better that the country builds a unified early warning system for smog, instead of having separate releases from the weather and environmental departments. The environmental authorities should take the lead on this,” said Xie Shaodong, a professor of environmental sciences at Peking University.

Xie said the environmental authorities’ forecasts for air pollution have become more accurate in recent years because they have gathered greater information on pollutant emissions, a key factor for forecasting smog.

The weather authorities can help by providing accurate weather forecasts, as the two departments have worked together to produce forecasts for smog in the past, he added.

It’s better that the country builds a unified early warning system for smog, instead of having separate releases from the weather and environmental departments.” Xie Shaodong, professor of environmental sciences at Peking University