In China, Beijing and its neighboring Tianjin Municipality have both issued their first red alerts for air pollution this year with heavy smog forecast in northern China today. <br/><br/>Local environmental protection authorities said yesterday that the red alerts will be active from 8 PM today until December, 2st when air quality is expected to improve. <br/><br/>Besides Beijing and Tianjin, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said another 21 cities including Shijiazhuang, Taiyuan and Zhengzhou are expected to issue red alerts, with nine others expected to issue orange. According to meteorologist Wang Zifa warm, humid air will trap pollutants and cause air quality to drop dramatically<br/>