Latest 10pm reading on 19 June 2013 is 321 points, 11pm at 282 points
Singapore has been covered with haze this past week. The haze is largely due to farmers and plantations deliberately set off fires to clear land for cultivation in Sumatra, Indonesia which is located west of Singapore. The three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading soared to 290 at 9pm on Wednesday, setting a new all-time high and almost reaching hazardous levels of above 300.
The Singapore’s National Environment Agency is updating the average 3 hourly index on http://www.nea.gov.sg/psi/ . It is now 10.45pm local time and yet the site is updated with the 10pm index. It is kind of worrying if it goes beyond the 300 points hazardous level.
Anything above 200 is considered “very unhealthy”, particularly to the elderly, young children and people with heart and lung disease.
When levels hit hazardous, vulnerable people can experience “early onset of certain diseases in addition to significant aggravation of (already present) symptoms,” the NEA said. Healthy people also find it harder to exercise in such conditions, the agency added.
Now that the pollution levels have topped the 200 threshold, elderly people with existing heart or lung diseases are advised to stay indoors and the general population to “avoid vigorous outdoor activity”, according to government guidelines.
Readers in Singapore should drink more water, read our site for more news updates and stay indoors for the time being.
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