Channel NewsAsia 7 Mar 14;
SINGAPORE: Haze returned to Singapore on Friday, with the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) crossing into the moderate range.
The three-hour PSI reading climbed throughout the day, from a three-hour reading of 31 at 9am.
It registered 54 at 6pm, 64 at 7pm and 71 at 8pm before dipping to 69 at 9pm.
As at 9pm, the 24-hour reading was between 44 and 51.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the hazy conditions experienced since late Friday afternoon could be due to hot spots to the north of Singapore.
It said a total of four hot spots were detected in peninsular Malaysia while 35 hot spots were spotted in Sumatra.
NEA said the hazy conditions are expected to persist overnight.
On Thursday, NEA said that an expected change in the monsoons in the later part of this month may pose some risk of transboundary haze.
The agency said in a statement that with the expected transition from the Northeast Monsoon to the inter-monsoon period, winds in the region will turn light and variable in direction, and will pose "some risk" of transboundary haze should hot spots in Sumatra persist and the prevailing winds in our region temporarily turn westerly.
The Riau province of Sumatra has been shrouded in dense haze over recent days as farmers set fires to clear land during the dry spell.
NEA added that prolonged dry weather affecting parts of the region has resulted in an escalation of hot spot activities, although the hot spot count has been low due to cloud cover and partial satellite coverage.
The public can get updates at the NEA website (www.nea.gov.sg), the haze microsite (www.haze.gov.sg), NEA Facebook (www.facebook.com/NEASingapore) and NEA Twitter (@NEAsg).
MediaCorp will show the 3-hour PSI readings at the top right-hand corner of the TV screen.
- CNA/ir
Singapore's air quality worsens
Channel NewsAsia 7 Mar 14;
SINGAPORE: Singapore's air quality worsened on Friday, with the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) crossing into the moderate range.
The three-hour PSI reading was 54 at 6pm and 64 at 7pm.
As at 7pm, the 24-hour reading was still in the "good" range - at between 41 and 49.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) said the hazy conditions experienced since late Friday afternoon could be due to hot spots to the north of Singapore.
It said a total of four hot spots were detected in peninsular Malaysia while 35 hot spots were spotted in Sumatra.
NEA said the hazy conditions are expected to persist overnight.
On Thursday, NEA said that an expected change in the monsoons in the later part of this month may pose some risk of transboundary haze.
The agency said in a statement that with the expected transition from the Northeast Monsoon to the inter-monsoon period, winds in the region will turn light and variable in direction, and will pose "some risk" of transboundary haze should hot spots in Sumatra persist and the prevailing winds in our region temporarily turn westerly.
The Riau province of Sumatra has been shrouded in dense haze over recent days as farmers set fires to clear land during the dry spell.
NEA added that prolonged dry weather affecting parts of the region has resulted in an escalation of hot spot activities, although the hot spot count has been low due to cloud cover and partial satellite coverage.
The public can get updates at the NEA website (www.nea.gov.sg), the haze microsite (www.haze.gov.sg), NEA Facebook (www.facebook.com/NEASingapore) and NEA Twitter (@NEAsg).
- CNA/ir
Singapore’s air quality improves
Channel NewsAsia 8 Mar 14;
SINGAPORE: Singapore's air quality improved overnight, with the three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading back in the "good" range on Saturday.
At 9am, the reading was 44. The 24-hour reading at 9am was between 42 and 51.
On Friday, haze returned to Singapore, with the PSI crossing into the moderate range.
The three-hour PSI reading climbed throughout the day, registering at 54 at 6pm, 64 at 7pm and 71 at 8pm before dipping to 69 at 9pm.
As at 9pm, the 24-hour reading was between 44 and 51.
The National Environment Agency (NEA) on Friday said the hazy conditions experienced since late Friday afternoon could be due to hot spots to the north of Singapore.
It said a total of four hot spots were detected in peninsular Malaysia while 35 hot spots were spotted in Sumatra.
- CNA/nd
