El Nino could bring more air pollution to N. China

North China may experience more smog this winter because of unfavorable meteorological conditions caused by El Nino, a periodic weather phenomenon associated with warm ocean currents in the Pacific Ocean, experts said.

The chance of a full-fledged El Nino from this month to February next year is 75 percent to 80 percent, according to a report published by the World Meteorological Organization late last month.

The Japan Agency for MarineEarth Science and Technology predicted that conditions will peak in February, with ocean surface temperatures 1.7 C above average in the central and eastern Pacific.

“Generally speaking, El Nino will induce more haze in North China,” said Liu Yanju, an engineer from the National Climate Center. She said it could carry water vapor and air pollutants to the region.

Experts said El Nino will greatly reduce the presence of cold air in the north, which has played an important role in helping disperse air pollutants.

He Chao, associate professor at Jinan University’s Institute for Environmental and Climate Research in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, said that while El Nino will make conditions unfavorable for dispersing air pollutants in North China, it will make them favorable in southern parts of the country, since it will bring more precipitation.