China's meteorological authorities said they and environmental authorities are deciding who takes charge of issuing smog alerts, following rumors that would stop making such alerts.
A source familiar with the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) said on Tuesday a joint system would be established on the issuance of smog alerts, which the source said would soon be released, news website thepaper.cn reported on Tuesday.
"Under the system, the CMA and the Ministry of Environmental Protection, together with other related departments, will decide on which department issues alerts," he said.
On Tuesday, an image of the "notice on terminating smog alerts" by a provincial meteorological department was spread on Sina Weibo.
The notice said, "To all meteorological departments of the province's cities and counties, we received a phone call from the Meteorological Administration at 6:36pm on Tuesday, calling for the immediate halt to smog alerts."
"If visibility is less than 10 kilometers, all departments could issue fog alerts based on humidity levels," the notice said.
"The image was merely an internal one," the source noted, according to thepaper.cn.
"I guess the two departments are discussing new regulations on how to issue smog alerts to avoid releasing different alert levels," Song Yingjie, CCTV weather presenter, said in his Sina Weibo.
On December 7, the Beijing Emergency Management issued a red alert on air pollution, while the city's Meteorological Service posted an orange alert on smog, which created confusion, said the CMA Center for Communication and Outreach.
The center said the different alerts were based on the two department's different standards and processes.
China has a four-tier warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue. A red alert is issued if the city's Air Quality Index (AQI) reaches 500. Four consecutive days of heavy air pollution (AQI over 200), including two days of severe air pollution (AQI over 300), could also lead to a red alert, the Xinhua News Agency reported in December.
