Malaysia: Air quality worsens

The Star 3 Sep 15;

PETALING JAYA: The air quality in several west coast areas of Peninsular Malaysia remained in the unhealthy zone Thursday morning with Alor Setar in Kedah recording the highest Air Pollutant Index reading (10am) of 116.

Residents of most areas in the Klang Valley woke up to the smell of haze caused by smoke from open burning in over 380 hotspots in Sumatra.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy), and 301 and above (hazardous).

At 10am, other areas with unhealthy API reading are Shah Alam (107), Port Klang (110), Banting (102), and Batu Muda (111).

In Negri Sembilan, Nilai recorded a reading of 104.

In the north, Kangar has a reading of 106 while Sungei Petani recorded a reading of 104.

Other areas that recorded unhealthy readings are Taiping (104), SK Jalan Pegoh (Ipoh) 105 and Seri Manjung 106.

The haze condition varies with the wind direction.

Earlier report of 7am API reading.

PETALING JAYA: Air in several west coast areas moved into the unhealthy zone early Thursday with Batu Muda in Kuala Lumpur recording the highest Air Pollutant Index reading (7am) of 112.

Residents of most areas in the Klang Valley also woke up to the smell of haze caused by smoke from open burning in over 380 hotspots in Sumatra.

An API reading of between 50 and 100 is considered moderate and those above 100 unhealthy.

At 7am, other areas with unhealthy API reading are Shah Alam (108), Port Klang (108), Banting (102), Putrajaya (99) and Cheras (100).

In Negri Sembilan, Nilai recorded 106 while Seremban 100.

In the north, Alor Setar has a reading of 122, Kangar 101, Sungei Petani 108, Seberang Jaya 2 (Perai) 104 and USM 101.

Other unhealthy API areas are Taiping (103), SK Jalan Pegoh (Ipoh) 103, Seri Manjung 104 and Jalan Tasek (Ipoh) 93.

The haze condition varies with the wind direction.

Haze advisory issued to schools in Penang
The Star 3 Sep 15;

GEORGE TOWN: All schools in Penang have been advised to cut down on outdoor activities if the haze situation worsens.

A circular from the Education Ministry released some time last week stated that all outdoor activities should be reduced or stopped if the Air Pollutant Index (API) readings in the area went above 150.

State Education Department director Datuk Osman Hussain replied in a text message that the ministry had its own standard ­operating procedure and it had been circulated to all schools in Penang.

Meanwhile, several areas in the northern states were shrouded in haze yesterday.

In Penang, the Department of Environment online portal recorded the API readings in Seberang Jaya 2 at 88 from 6am until 8am and 97at 11am.

The monitoring station at Univer­siti Sains Malaysia showed 81 at 11am. In Prai, the API was 75 at 11am. In Alor Setar, the API was 86 at 11am.

Over in Bakar Arang, Sungai Petani, the API reading reached the unhealthy level of 103 at 4pm. The reading was 91 at 11am.

An API reading of between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy) and 301 and above (hazardous).

The horizontal visibility level recorded by the Malaysian Meteoro­logical Department monitoring stations in Bayan Lepas was 4km while it was only 2km in Butterworth at 8am.

Data from the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) website showed there were 380 hotspots in Sumatra on Tuesday.

380 hotspots detected
HANIS ZAINAL The Star 3 Sep 15;

PETALING JAYA: The haze could become worse should the smoke from hotspots in neighbouring Indonesia cross over to the country.

There are currently 380 hotspots in Sumatra and nine in Kalimantan, up from 200 on Monday, according to the Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar.

Dr Wan Junaidi said the Environ­ment Department was closely monitoring the situation.

The department, he said, was monitoring the status and trend of air quality hourly due to the uncertainty of the haze (pattern).

The increase in the number of hotspots in Sumatra and Kalimantan could potentially cause the haze (in Indonesia) to cross the border into the West Coast of Malaysia and Sarawak, he said yesterday.

“Seven hotspots have been identified in the country, one in Sabah and the other six in Pahang,” said Dr Wan Junaidi.

The Fire and Rescue Department’s assistant director-general (operations) Zulkarnain Mohd Kassim said the department would also closely monitor the hotspots.

“Now it’s still raining quite a lot, so it helps us in putting out the hotspots quite fast,” Zulkarnain said.

He said the rain meant there were fewer hotspots this year than during the same period last year, adding that the department was prepared to respond fast should the hotspots in the country increase.

The Malaysian Meteorological Depart­­ment’s National Weather Centre senior meteorologist Dr Hisham Mohd Anip said the dry season started late this year, which could explain the delayed presence of hotspots and haze.

“It usually starts in July but we had a lot of rain in July and August this year.

“The rainfall is considered above normal as during the south-west monsoon season, the rainfall is normally very little,” said Hisham.

He said the situation was similar in Indonesia, which was why the haze season started late this year.

“We are lucky this year, because the haze only started last week (in this country) and will hopefully clear out in two to three weeks when the inter-monsoon season starts,” he said.

As of 6pm yesterday, the Air Pollutant Index reached the unhealthy level in two areas – Bakar Arang in Sungai Petani (103) and Nilai, Negri Sembilan (101).

Air quality in Peninsular Malaysia worsens
VICTORIA BROWN The Star 2 Sep 15;

PETALING JAYA: The air quality in Peninsular Malaysia has worsened as the day progressed, with the Air Pollutant Index (API) bordering on unhealthy levels on Wednesday.

According to Department of Environment’ website, Cheras recorded an API reading bordering an "unhealthy" ozone level at 91c.

Shah Alam and Port Klang's API reading was a "moderate" level of 95 as of 3pm, increasing from its 8am reading of 86 and 87 respectively.

Petaling Jaya's API reading increased to a "moderate" level of 87 at 3pm from its 81 reading at 8am.

As of 3pm, Banting increased to 94 from 89 (at 8am) and Putrajaya increased to 90 from 83 (at 8am).

Sabah and Sarawak's air quality was "good" except for Bintulu, which had a "moderate" reading of 52.

The API reading of 100 to 200 is considered "unhealthy", 51 to 100 is considered "moderate", while 0 to 50 is considered "good".

The API is calculated based on five major air pollutants, namely Sulphur Dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen Dioxide (NO2), Ground Level Ozone (O3), Carbon Monoxide (CO) and particulate matter with a diameter below 10 micrometers (PM10).

Haze nearing unhealthy zone in west coast
The Star 2 Sep 15;

GEORGE TOWN: Several areas in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia were shrouded in haze with Air Pollutant Index (API) readings showing above 80, albeit in the moderate zone, at 11am.

Among the worst hit areas are Putrajaya which showed an API reading of 86, Batu Muda (KL) 83, Cheras 75, Shah Alam 90, Petaling Jaya 84, Port Klang 89, Banting 91, Seremban 80 and Nilai 95.

In the north, Bakar Arang (Perlis) has a reading of 91, Alor Setar 86, Seri Manjung 81, Seberang Jaya, Perai 90 and USM 81.

A reading of between 50 to 100 is considered moderate, above 100 unhealthy.