Haze update: 24-hr PSI within ‘moderate-unhealthy’ range
Hazy conditions seen outside the Parliament House on Friday (26 August). (Photo: Yahoo Newsroom)
As of 9am on Saturday (27 August), Singapore’s 24-hour Pollutants Standards Index (PSI) reading stood at 88-141 while the PM2.5 pollution index was 16-59.
According to the National Environment Agency (NEA) website, from which the data was obtained, the PSI measurement was within the moderate-unhealthy range while the PM2.5 figures reflected normal to elevated pollution levels.
The three-hour PSI reading stood at 74, within the moderate range.
The haze, which made its return on Friday (26 August), were the result of haze from central Sumatra being “blown in by the prevailing westerly winds”, said the NEA in an update.
In a media release, also on Friday, the NEA said that 11 hotspots had been detected in Sumatra and that hazy conditions were expected to persist through Saturday. The haze experienced in Singapore is due to regional forest fires caused by the practice of open burning to clear land for agricultural uses.
The agency’s chief executive officer has also written to his Indonesian counterpart to “register Singapore’s concerns over additional episodes of deterioration in air quality in Singapore should the fires continue”, the release said.
