Singapore Air Quality Hits Unhealthy Levels Island-wide

By Anas Abu Hassan

SINGAPORE, Sept 15 (Bernama) -- Singapore recorded unhealthy air quality island-wide on Tuesday morning, with the 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) breaching the 100 mark in all five regions amid persistent haze.

National Environment Agency (NEA) data showed that the 24-hour PSI ranged from 101 to 145 as of 10 am, with the central region recording the highest reading of 145, the east at 120 and the west at 122.

The north and south also slipped into the unhealthy air quality range on Tuesday, recording 101 and 104, respectively.

The 24-hour PSI indicates Singapore's daily air quality and forms the basis of the NEA's daily health advisories. Under the PSI scale, air quality is deemed unhealthy when readings range from 101 to 200, very unhealthy from 201 to 300 and hazardous when they exceed 300.

According to the NEA’s advisory, dry conditions are expected to persist over Singapore and the surrounding region in the coming days, while moderate to dense smoke plumes from fires in Kalimantan have drifted towards Singapore.

"With the prevailing winds forecast to continue blowing from the southeast to east-southeast, Singapore will likely be affected by smoke haze," it said.

Meanwhile, the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre, in its daily weather and haze report, said the hotspot and smoke haze situation was expected to stay elevated in fire-prone regions experiencing prolonged dry conditions, with a continued risk of severe transboundary haze occurrence.

"Moderate transboundary haze was observed over Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore, as well as the southern parts of Vietnam and Cambodia.

"The prevailing winds over the southern ASEAN region are expected to blow from the southeast to southwest, except over parts of Borneo, where the winds are forecast to be light and variable in direction," it said.

-- BERNAMA