Roy See Wei Zhi New Straits Times 14 Jul 11;
KUALA LUMPUR: What does a business tycoon, a construction worker and other Malaysians have in common? They are not immune to the effects of breathing polluted air.
It is intriguing that the thing we take for granted -- breathing -- ends up being our utmost concern when there is haze.
Unless one can live in a closed environment impervious to haze elements, Malaysians will just have to bear with the fine aerial invaders for the time being.
What could help the country in this situation is wind -- mercifully blowing the polluted air to another area -- or air-cleansing rain. Currently, the haze is plaguing the west coast of the peninsula.
The Department of Environment yesterday said the haze was due to open burning in Sumatra and parts of Kalimantan.
As of yesterday, hot spots were detected in Bengkalis and Riau Province in Sumatra.
Right now, the relatively dry winds of the southwest monsoon are carrying smoke particles and pollutants from the Sumatra fires in the direction of the peninsula.
The DOE's Air Pollutant Index (API) reading saw air quality fluctuating along the Malaysian west coast, with Ipoh, Perak, being hit the hardest.
In Ipoh, the API recorded the highest reading of 139 yesterday evening. A reading of more than 100 is regarded as "unhealthy".
To ensure industrial activities were not contributing to the haze, the department conducted a check on factories in Perak.
It was found that emissions from all 49 factories in the area were within accepted limits.
DOE state director Datuk Abu Hasan Mohd Isa said the situation did not warrant the closure of schools.
He said those who did not have pressing matters should stay at home or wear face masks when they ventured outside.
A total of 18 stations around the country recorded API levels of below 51 (good) while 33 other stations recorded a moderate amount of air pollution. Only one station in Jalan Tasek, Ipoh, was in the "unhealthy" category.
Haze: Air unhealthy in Perak, other areas clearing up
Florence A. Samy The Star 13 Jul 11;
PETALING JAYA: Ipoh registered unhealthy air quality levels, with its Air Pollutant Index (API) tripling in two days even as the haze lingers on.
According to the Department of Environment, the API for the Jalan Tasek station was at 139 at 5pm Wednesday, compared with 43 at 5pm on Monday.
Two other areas in Perak, namely SK Jalan Pegoh in Ipoh and Seri Manjung, recorded near unhealthy levels at 96 and 90 respectively at 5pm Wednesday.
(A good API reading is from 0-50, moderate 51-100, unhealthy 101-200, very unhealthy 201-299 and hazardous from 300 and above).
A regional hazemap showed that scattered hotspots with smoke plumes continued to be detected over central Sumatera, which is geographically close to the peninsula's west coast.
The lack of rain in Ipoh and wind conditions had attributed to the unhealthy air quality with no rain forecasted for today.
However, other areas showed signs of improvement thanks to strong winds and isolated rain.
By 5pm, only 31 areas recorded moderate air quality readings compared to the 38 on Tuesday.
This included Bukit Rambai in Malacca which had recorded the worst air quality reading over the last two days with an API of between 71 to 93. However, its readings were near healthy levels (56) at 5pm.
The haze still persisted in the Klang Valley but the air quality improved to 67 in both Petaling Jaya and Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur, compared with 80 and 82 the same time Tuesday.
Visibility levels also improved to normal (more than 10km) or near normal levels in most areas except for Butterworth (5km), Sitiawan (4km), Bayan Lepas, Petaling Jaya, Prai and Subang which recorded a 6km visibility at 8pm. More rain and isolated thunderstorms are forecasted over the next few days in most states.
Fires in Borneo have also contributed to the haze in Sabah and Sarawak but air quality levels in the two states improved considerably yesterday due to the rain and isolated thunderstorms.
