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 Marine-Earth 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.