Subseasonal reversal of haze pollution over the North China Plain

China has been frequently suffering from haze pollution in the past several decades. As one of the most emission -intensive regions, the North China Plain (NCP) features severe haze pollution with multiscale variations. Using more than 30 years of visibility measurements and PM2.5 observations, a subseasonal seesaw phenomenon of haze in autumn and early winter over the NCP is revealed in this study. It is found that when September and October are less (more) polluted than the climatology, haze tends to be enhanced (reduced) in November and December. The abrupt turn of anomalous haze is found to be associated with the circulation reversal of regional and large-scale atmospheric circulations. Months with poor air quality exhibit higher relative humidity, lower boundary layer height, lower near-surface wind speed, and southerly anomalies of low-level winds, which are all unfavorable for the vertical and horizontal dispersion and transport of air pollutants, thus leading to enhanced haze pollution over the NCP region on the subseasonal scale. Further exploration indicates that the reversal of circulation patterns is closely connected to the propagation of midlatitude wave trains active on the subseasonal time scale, which is plausibly associated with the East Atlantic/West Russia teleconnection synchronizing with the transition of the North Atlantic SST. The seesaw relation discussed in this paper provides greater insight into the prediction of the multiscale variability of haze, as well as the possibility of efficient short-term mitigation of haze to meet annual air quality targets in North China.