The weekend of October 16 to 18 is off to a rough start as Singaporeans are once again looking out their windows at a thick, acrid blanket of gray. If your throat is scratching and your eyes are watering, the numbers are back up. Today, Singapore topped IQAir’s live ranking of the world’s most polluted major cities due to the ongoing haze crisis. Meanwhile, local PSI readings keep surging well into the unhealthy range. In fact, we recorded the worst haze numbers since 2015 this week too. Here’s what we know about the Singapore air quality.
Why is Singapore the world’s most polluted city this weekend?
The toxic haze in recent months is caused by Indonesian forest fires. And with El Niño fueling the blazes and prevailing winds blowing the smoke straight at us, the air keeps spiking into the very unhealthy range. Although, Indonesian officials said they also send us oxygen in a recent post.
Today, Singapore’s highest overall live ranking was around 248 and the haze is expected to stay throughout the weekend. Notably, on the pollution map below you can see up to a hazardous 318. So keep your windows shut, blast the air purifiers, and go grab your free N95 mask at a collection point.
We aren’t suffering alone though as Southeast Asia has some of the most polluted cities globally right now. For instance, Kuala Lumpur is trailing closely behind us hovering over the 200 mark too. Plus, the Malaysian city recorded the world’s worst air quality a few times recently.
According to the IQAir’s Live Tracking, here’s the top five most polluted major cities worldwide today:
- Singapore
- Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
- Lahore, Pakistan
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Milan, Italy
Depending on the hour you check the live charts, the top leaderboard could be different. Get our haze protection guide here. More to follow on the haze in Singapore.
