Haze

Haze is now a part of Malaysia's weather, normally occured around draught seasons. It is caused by local Hotspots, as well as neighboring countries' as a result of open burning in agriculture.

The haze was once so bad that the state o emergency were declared in some part of Malaysia.

The photos i took during the latest worst haze were on 12th June, 2009 in Klang. The reading was an unhealthy 120.

The air quality in Malaysia is described in terms of Air Pollutant Index ( API ). The API is an indicator of air quuality and was developed based on scientific assessment to indicate in an easily understood manner, the presence of pollutants and its impact on health. The API system of Malaysia closedly follows the Pollutant Standard Index (PSI ) developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency ( US-EPA )

The air pollutant index scale and term used in describing the air quality levels are as follows :

0-50 Good

51-100 Moderate

101-200 Unhealthy

201-300 Very Unhealthy

> 300 Hazardous

the CAQM stations measure the concentration of 5 major pollutants in the ambient air, namely, suspended particulated matters ( PM10 ), sulphur dioxide ( SO2 ), nitrogen dioxide ( NO2 ), carbon dioxide ( CO2 ), and ozone ( O3 ). These concentrations are measured continuously on hourly basis. The hourly value is then averaged over 24-hour running perioud for PM10 and SO2, 8-hour period for CO2, whilst O3 and NOx are readhourly. An hourly index is calculated for each pollutant. The highest index value recorded is then taken as the API for the hour.