Hebei issues orange alert for heavy air pollution

North China's Hebei province has issued an orange heavy air pollution alert for the next few days, and will begin a second-level emergency response, local authorities said on Tuesday.

The alert is for 12 cities and will come into effect at 6 pm on Wednesday, a notice by the Hebei provincial bureau of ecology and environment stated.

Affected by the south winds and a temperature inversion, the conditions for pollutants' dispersal will gradually become worse starting on Wednesday, the notice said, adding that air pollutants will accumulate.

Starting on Thursday, the ground humidity will increase while the strength of wind will reduce, which might cause a heavy pollution of PM2.5 - hazardous fine particulate matter with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns - in the province's south central and eastern areas.

Therefore, the areas of 12 cities, including Shijiazhuang, Handan, Xiongan New Area and Qinhuangdao, are ordered to take a series of responding measures, including the suspension of schools' outdoor activities, the suspension of outdoor construction operations, the restriction of vehicles on roads and the halting of production or restriction of some industrial processes, according to the bureau.

Hebei, Beijing's neighbor and home to several of the country's top 10 most polluted cities, is at the forefront of China's fight against air pollution, Xinhua News Agency said.

This is the second time the province has issued a regional orange alert this winter.

An orange alert, the second-highest level in a four-tier weather warning system, will be issued when the daily average air quality index surpasses 200 for three consecutive days in a certain number of cities and once surpasses 300, according to the bureau, who did not say when the air quality will improve.