The Singapore Zoo is quite nice, as far as zoos go. Their collection is excellent. But what is most special is the effective and generous design of many of the enclosures. Of course, I don't know for sure, but a substantial proportion of the animals we saw seemed happy.
For more zoo photos, have a look at Ingrid's blog.
For the past day, the PSI has been in the "moderate" range. The latest 24-h PM2.5 levels from the Singapore NEA show levels in the range 40-92 µg/m3, well below the peak of 300 we experienced last week. (But still above health-based standards that would apply in the US and in many other countries.) Visibility is much better, too, as you can see from these photos. These are close to the same scenes shot last week in the heavy haze. However, now I am restricted to shooting through the windows. The doors to the balcony are locked, with a sign "Due to the high PSI level, this door is locked during this period of time." Yeah, right. The door is hardly used at all and the consequences of using it for air quality in the building are surely negligible.
The air was still terribly hazy this morning. But starting in the early afternoon we could perceive a shift and within a few hours conditions had returned to "moderate." That translates to not great, but not so bad -- maybe like the worst air pollution days in the Bay Area.
We headed to the central part of Singapore, had lunch at the hawker center on Maxwell Road, visited the Singapore city museum at the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and then walked over to historic Fort Canning Park. It was nice to able to breathe deeply!
Although the government reports this morning giving the latest PSI values suggest some improvement, the visibility is the worst yet.
Here are two indicators of very bad air pollution. (1) There are no clouds in the sky, but you cannot see your own daytime shadow. That is where we are today. (2) There are no clouds in the sky, but you cannot see the sun. I hope we don't go there!
We're still walking outside, but trying to avoid any strenuous activity. We're not using masks, but we may start soon. There is a surprisingly strong smell of smoke inside air conditioned buildings. It makes me wonder if the cooling somehow enhances the physical response to the odorous molecules in wood smoke. The smell becomes a bit nauseating over time because it is so persistent. The smoke doesn't have the same acrid, eye watering character as fresh campfire smoke. The aging during its ~ 100 km travel from Sumatra to here must help remove some of the more irritating chemicals. And there is one surprising small benefit associated with the smoke: the air is considerably cooler and even less humid than normal.
We are now on day 9 since the start. All five days of the work week have been pretty bad. Since Wednesday it has been very bad. There is no relief in sight.
The title of this post is the current headline in the "Straits Times" online edition. It's pretty shocking! The PSI index reached a peak of 371 at 1 PM today (Thursday). Anything above 300 is rated "hazardous." The range 200-300 is considered "very unhealthy." Values of 100-200 are rated "unhealthy."
This morning, the haze was clearly (pun intended) thicker than it has been on any day during this episode. At its worst, the visual range was less than 3 km (2 miles), because I could no longer see our building from where I work.
Here is how it looked earlier today. The farthest objects that you can just make out on the horizon in these shots are barely a mile from where the photos are being shot!
On Tuesday, we seemed to get some relief, but the wind picked up today and brought with it a new wave of smoke. The headline on Yahoo! Singapore is "PSI index on Wed at 2 PM hits 170, firmly in the unhealthy range." These pictures are a fairly accurate representation of what it looks like from the office building where I work.
Sumatra is just west of Singapore. We are told that slash and burn agriculture is commonly practiced there and that the burning season is now. During this time, when the winds are unfavorable, Singapore is blanketed by a thick smoky haze.
We've been experiencing this condition since last Thursday. In the past day or so, it has really gotten bad. The headline on Yahoo! Singapore says "haze in Singapore reaches 'unhealthy' level, worst in 16 years."
The reported fine particulate matter concentration measured outdoors here is 145-179 micrograms per cubic meter for the past 24 hours. Singapore translates this information into a "pollutant standards index" (PSI) of 109-122, which is classified as "unhealthy." The National Environment Agency warns that everyone should "avoid all physical activity outdoors."
The same data entered into the USEPA's air quality index (AQI) calculator produces an AQI rating of 197-229, which spans the upper end of "unhealthy" to the lower portion of the "very unhealthy" range. The health warnings would be similar.
There is a smell of wood smoke in the air. It's not constant, but occurs frequently, even indoors.
These hazy photos were taken on my walk to work this morning and from the 10th floor balcony of our office building. The visual range is about 5 kilometers.
We are told to expect conditions to continue like this for at least a few days.
