Jump to content








Chinese authorities tell local weather forecasters to stop issuing smog alerts


webfact

Recommended Posts

Chinese authorities tell local weather forecasters to stop issuing smog alerts

REUTERS

 

r12.jpg

People wearing masks cycle past Tiananmen Gate during the smog after a red alert was issued for heavy air pollution in Beijing, China, December 20, 2016. REUTERS/Jason Lee/Files

 

BEIJING (Reuters) - Chinese authorities have asked an unnamed Chinese province to turn off its early warning alert system for smog to avoid mismatches between environment and meteorological authority forecasts, state media reported late on Tuesday.

 

Nearly three years into a "war on pollution", large swathes of northern China have been engulfed in smog over the New Year, with dangerous air quality readings in major cities like Beijing, Tianjin and Xian forcing many people to stay in doors.

 

Chinese authorities use a colour-coded system of alerts to warn companies, schools and individuals of incoming smog, and to try to fight the haze by limiting production in polluting industries and banning older cars from city streets.

 

The system's accuracy and fair application has become the focus of public discussion, and people regularly take to the internet to question discrepancies in alerts issued by different Chinese authorities in different locations.

 

An image of a notice from the provincial capital's weather forecasting authorities tells county and city forecasters to immediately cease releasing early warnings for smog was widely shared on Weibo, a popular Chinese microblog, on Tuesday.

 

The Paper, an online publication under the government-backed Shanghai United media Group, confirmed the notice with an unnamed official from China's National Meteorological Administration.

 

The note was an internal memo, not for public release, the official told the paper, adding it was sent "because there has previously been incidents of the meteorological administration and the environmental protection ministry frequently releasing different information about the smog".

 

The county and city authorities may continue to release fog alerts for low visibility, the notice said.

 

The National Meteorological Administration declined to comment when telephoned by Reuters.

 

The instruction has drawn ire from online commentators who ask why weather authorities are not allowed to post smog warnings.

 

"The meteorological administration fought the environmental protection ministry and lost," the Nanjing Meteorological Institute said on its official Weibo account.

 

"Thus, early warnings about smog, a kind of meteorological calamity, cannot be issued by the meteorological administration," it said.

 

Earlier this month, Beijing issued its highest fog alert while only issuing the second highest level for smog, which raised questions from some living in the city.

 

The episode of smog which blanketed cities, disrupting flights, port operations and schools, was caused by increased coal use for winter heating and unfavourable weather conditions, authorities said at the time.

 

(Reporting by Christian Shepherd; Editing by Michael Perry)

 
reuters_logo.jpg
-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-01-18
Link to comment
Share on other sites


Governing Communist style. And these are the people seeking world cooperation. The "Peoples" government has already taken the WHO daily maximums and doubled them and called them acceptable levels how ridiculous. All for the sake of false prosperity and greed. Now this same man Mr. Xi sits in Davos saying world cooperation is imperative really?? on your terms of course. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...