Everything You Need To Know About The ‘Haze’ in S’pore on Tuesday


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Just when we thought the haze kerfuffle was over…it made its return, like the annoying Facebook stalker who won’t take no for an answer.

What happened

The second workday of October had netizens complaining of hazy conditions in Singapore.

Image: Instagram (kearymcmhai)
Image: Twitter (TaCe)

So, the logical thing to do is check out NEA’s Facebook page. And here goes.

Image: NEA Facebook

If you can’t read, here’s what they have written:

Haze Situation Update (3 October 2017): Thundery showers fell over Singapore in the late morning and early afternoon today. For the rest of the day, cloudy conditions are expected, and the prevailing winds are forecast to blow from the south or southwest. As at 6pm today, the 24-hr PSI was 51-68, in the Moderate range, and the 1-hr PM2.5 concentration readings were 8-28µg/m3, in Band I (Normal).

There were showers over most parts of Sumatra today. No hotspots were detected in Sumatra due to cloud cover.

For tomorrow, the prevailing winds are forecast to blow from the southeast or south, and thundery showers are expected over parts of Singapore in the late morning and early afternoon. For the next 24 hours, the 1-hr PM2.5 concentration readings are expected to stay in Band I (Normal), and the 24-hr PSI is forecast to be in the Moderate range.

For the next few days, the prevailing winds are forecast to continue blowing from the southeast or south. Showers are expected over parts of Sumatra. The likelihood of Singapore being affected by transboundary haze remains low.

Oh?

This is really becoming a he said, she said situation.

What the expert says

Air quality scientist, Erik Velasco, told The Straits Times it was not transboundary haze. The haze-like condition could be caused by the concentration of particle vapour and local emissions from cars and factories.

He also added that cloudy conditions and “not too much wind” could have attributed to the haze-like condition. With the rainy conditions, there might not be many solar radiations as well. Solar radiation releases heat, providing turbulence which helps to disperse particles in the air.

That makes sense. Remember yesterday when I mentioned how Singapore is going to be plagued with rain and low-wind levels?

So basically all these particles are stuck and congested, not being able to dissipate

What we should do

Our best bet is to keep track of the NEA’s readings.

On top of their 24-hour PSI update, they are also rolling out an hourly update on PM 2.5 (the dominant pollutant during haze) concentration in the atmosphere.


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PM 2.5 concentration reading as of 11am:

Image: Twitter (NEA)

If you’re wondering how to read the finding, here is a chart:

Image: Haze.gov.sg

For those who are still unsure on how to read the PSI level:

Image: NEA Facebook

Right, so far, there hasn’t been any projected haze yet (remember, some forests must be burning to contribute to the haze).

But stock up on N95 masks, just to be safe.


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This article was first published on goodyfeed.com

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