Haze is not meteorological disaster

BEIJING RECENTLY PUBLISHED the third draft of regulations for preventing and controlling meteorological disasters. The draft regulations aroused fierce public discussions as smog is listed as a meteorological disaster. Maybe the regulations are meant to mobilize more resources to fight smog, but it seems that it makes it easier for officials to shirk their responsibility for good air quality, says hsw.cn:

Li Xiaojuan, the spokesperson for the legislative affairs committee of Beijing people's congress, the local legislature, said they included smog as meteorological disaster because they hoped to strengthen the awareness of the need for the whole of society to tackle smog. The move would not change the municipal government's leading role in fighting smog, Li said.

These words sound reasonable, but they are fundamentally flawed because smog is not a natural disaster. According to the current Meteorological Law, meteorological disasters are natural disasters, such as typhoons, storms, sandstorms, high temperature, drought, lightening and hail; these disasters cannot be prevented under the current conditions. We can only protect ourselves and reduce any damage when it happens.