Planet-Warming Pollution Reaches Record Highs as Fossil Fuel Use Persists

[folium]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/travelnews/9175667/Thailand-pollution-puts-Chiang-Mai-off-the-tourist-trail.html

If you haven't already seen this the above link is from the UK's Daily Telegraph website.

Not great reading if you are dependent on western type tourism.

Personally I am done with the ostrich routine and am taking my kids away for their Songkran holiday. Hate to think what they have ingested in terms of pollution in the last month. Probably the equivalent of a fair few cigarettes a day.

Need to go somewhere where I can actually see the sun and breathe without thinking about what else I am taking on board.

It really is beyond a joke and life's too short. If April is a repeat of March heaven help us!

[transam]

Have you been to London lately.?

[Semper]

Have you been to London lately.?

The difference is that it's not raining in CM compared to London, which should clear the 'smog' a bit.

[transam]

Have you been to London lately.?

The difference is that it's not raining in CM compared to London, which should clear the 'smog' a bit.

They are about to impose a hose pipe ban in UK cos noooooooooo rain.

[kcore]

The visibility today from my 4th floor condo could not be more than 1200-1500 meters. My views of Doi Sutep.......what mountain! I don't know how the airport can remain open given these current conditions.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Haze ends in April.

It did too in years that were worse than this one.

You should have left early March; not much point now.

There is already a topic on this as a sticky topic at the top of the Chiang Mai forum.

Edited March 31, 2012 by WinnieTheKhwai

[ThaiPauly]

I have just got back from 5 days in Singapore, I had hoped things may have improved in that time but......they have not

I was really envious of Singapore's blue skies

[folium]

Haze ends in April.

It did too in years that were worse than this one.

You should have left early March; not much point now.

There is already a topic on this as a sticky topic at the top of the Chiang Mai forum.

School sadly gets in the way and juggling education (especially this time of year with exams looming) with well-being is never that simple.

Glad to hear that the "haze" (smog) will end in April, care to give me a date? Anyway a couple of weeks away and some cleaner air will be no bad thing.

[Semper]

Have you been to London lately.?

The difference is that it's not raining in CM compared to London, which should clear the 'smog' a bit.

They are about to impose a hose pipe ban in UK cos noooooooooo rain.

Guess you are right. But 75% of the time they show a football game it's raining. So I thought......

[Priceless]

The visibility today from my 4th floor condo could not be more than 1200-1500 meters. My views of Doi Sutep.......what mountain! I don't know how the airport can remain open given these current conditions.

The airport reports visibility 2,800 metres at 13:00 local time.

/ Priceless

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Glad to hear that the "haze" (smog) will end in April, care to give me a date?

After the first week of April.

It must end, otherwise it's not hot enough for a proper Songkran.

[MAJIC]

Have you been to London lately.?

The difference is that it's not raining in CM compared to London, which should clear the 'smog' a bit.

Sure the weather counts for Tourism,but that doesn't stop 30 Million Tourists coming to the UK,not to mention £115 billion in revenue. Which compared to Thailands 14 Million visitors,is not too bad seeing Tourists don't expect good weather all year round,like those that come to Thailand.

[CMNightRider]

Have you been to London lately.?

The difference is that it's not raining in CM compared to London, which should clear the 'smog' a bit.

Sure the weather counts for Tourism,but that doesn't stop 30 Million Tourists coming to the UK,not to mention £115 billion in revenue. Which compared to Thailands 14 Million visitors,is not too bad seeing Tourists don't expect good weather all year round,like those that come to Thailand.

"Clear the smog a bit?" It isn't the smog that is troubling. It is the smoke from "slash and burn." I think education and a little common sense would go a long way to stop this practice.

[folium]

Have you been to London lately.?

The difference is that it's not raining in CM compared to London, which should clear the 'smog' a bit.

Sure the weather counts for Tourism,but that doesn't stop 30 Million Tourists coming to the UK,not to mention £115 billion in revenue. Which compared to Thailands 14 Million visitors,is not too bad seeing Tourists don't expect good weather all year round,like those that come to Thailand.

"Clear the smog a bit?" It isn't the smog that is troubling. It is the smoke from "slash and burn." I think education and a little common sense would go a long way to stop this practice.

The word "smog" is another by-product of London, and is a combination of the words smoke and fog. Thus whether you are talking London of Dickens/Holmes time periods or CM today the word smog is on the money.

[cloudhopper]

The visibility today from my 4th floor condo could not be more than 1200-1500 meters. My views of Doi Sutep.......what mountain! I don't know how the airport can remain open given these current conditions.

The airport reports visibility 2,800 metres at 13:00 local time.

/ Priceless

i.e. not good enough for visual flight rules but still enough to operate on instruments.

[CMX]

I'm having a little difficulty with our terms.

The trouble with the term 'smog' is that it takes attention away from smoke as the central culprit. The Thai government, in encouraging clean alternative fuels and giving big reductions in taxes to small fuel-efficient autos, not to mention mandating clean vehicle emission standards, has confronted air pollution from vehicles, for example. Bangkok is far cleaner because of it.

Fog, of course, is of itself innocent and not the problem.

Smoke, and smoke alone, is the cause of the degree of suffering and risks to health in this season. And as we've agreed, nothing's being done. Not smog, smoke.

'Slash and burn' is misleading in our situation as well. In Brazil, land clearing is on such a scale. Our problem here is essentially the burning of established fields - relatively little slashing and land clearance involved. Burning fields means smoke.

[folium]

I'm having a little difficulty with our terms.

The trouble with the term 'smog' is that it takes attention away from smoke as the central culprit. The Thai government, in encouraging clean alternative fuels and giving big reductions in taxes to small fuel-efficient autos, not to mention mandating clean vehicle emission standards, has confronted air pollution from vehicles, for example. Bangkok is far cleaner because of it.

Fog, of course, is of itself innocent and not the problem.

Smoke, and smoke alone, is the cause of the degree of suffering and risks to health in this season. And as we've agreed, nothing's being done. Not smog, smoke.

'Slash and burn' is misleading in our situation as well. In Brazil, land clearing is on such a scale. Our problem here is essentially the burning of established fields - relatively little slashing and land clearance involved. Burning fields means smoke.

Without being too nerdy (heaven forbid), smog is the generally accepted term for what we are facing today as smoke is not descriptive enough (or negative sounding enough).

Smog is that nasty combination of pollutants in the air (in most of the world the key input is the emission from fossil fuel burning plus sunlight to create photochemical smog, eg LA, Mexico City etc), and a temperature inversion where the pollutants are trapped near the Earth's surface.

Regular fog is the result of temperature inversions and is simply very low-level clouds. Smog is a similar effect but largely composed of pollutants rather than just water moisture.

Here in SE Asia smoke from burning fields, forests and trash is the main contributor, and the weather conditions at this time of year (temperature inversions, little wind and minimal precipitation) are disastrous in combination.

Smog is a firmly negative term associated with pollution and unpleasant side-effects, while smoke is just seen as a temporary byproduct of burning.

[hhper]

I'm having a little difficulty with our terms.

The trouble with the term 'smog' is that it takes attention away from smoke as the central culprit. The Thai government, in encouraging clean alternative fuels and giving big reductions in taxes to small fuel-efficient autos, not to mention mandating clean vehicle emission standards, has confronted air pollution from vehicles, for example. Bangkok is far cleaner because of it.

Fog, of course, is of itself innocent and not the problem.

Smoke, and smoke alone, is the cause of the degree of suffering and risks to health in this season. And as we've agreed, nothing's being done. Not smog, smoke.

'Slash and burn' is misleading in our situation as well. In Brazil, land clearing is on such a scale. Our problem here is essentially the burning of established fields - relatively little slashing and land clearance involved. Burning fields means smoke.

Without being too nerdy (heaven forbid), smog is the generally accepted term for what we are facing today as smoke is not descriptive enough (or negative sounding enough).

Smog is that nasty combination of pollutants in the air (in most of the world the key input is the emission from fossil fuel burning plus sunlight to create photochemical smog, eg LA, Mexico City etc), and a temperature inversion where the pollutants are trapped near the Earth's surface.

Regular fog is the result of temperature inversions and is simply very low-level clouds. Smog is a similar effect but largely composed of pollutants rather than just water moisture.

Here in SE Asia smoke from burning fields, forests and trash is the main contributor, and the weather conditions at this time of year (temperature inversions, little wind and minimal precipitation) are disastrous in combination.

Smog is a firmly negative term associated with pollution and unpleasant side-effects, while smoke is just seen as a temporary byproduct of burning.

jez soo nerdy........get a life my boy.

[uptheos]

Can't say I really care if tourism is down, but I am concerned about the 'stuff that is choking people' regardless of what it's called and it's about time something was done. Countries that just accept 'that's the way it is' will always be backward IMO.

[Greenside]

I think someone said "this isn't the kind of publicity that Chiang Mai needs" but I beg to differ. I feel sorry for the local businesses caught in the crossfire but I've got to agree with one of the comments appended to the Daily Telegraph article which says that until the Big Boys really start to hurt nothing will even begin to happen. Even if you could do so in this age of instant online connectivity, maintaining this conspiracy of silence approach to the conditions here in what might otherwise be a pleasant couple of months is simply the wrong approach.

[hellodolly]

I vote for smog

Saying the smoke in Chiang mai is to high to a forigner is likely to be taken as

Chiang Mai is on fire.

I repeat education and hands on showing the people alternatives to burning is the only answer.

Constant threats of fines and jail amount to nothing. Go out and enforce them and stand back and wonder why all your rice comes from another country.

[ianf]

It hasn't all got to do with rice or corn. True, the hills around Mae Cham look as if a retreating army had a scorched earth policy but there is burning everywhere:

1. Villagers are now burning their household refuse at night - including the village head in a village I have close connections with. That's because they don't want to fork out a few baht for rubbish sacks.

2. Whoever is responsible for the highways are burning the verges with impunity. Burning verges inevitably means burning plastic and other toxin producing substances. Fine leadership from the local authorities!

3. Its a myth that burning the forest floor produces more mushrooms. That's a myth perpetuated by the arsonists.

4. And don't keep blaming the Burmese or the Laos. The Karen for one have huge respect for the jungle and know how to rotate the crops without wanton destruction.

Where there's a will there's a way. So if the guys up there want to do something about it they could. But actually, no one seems to care as politics here is about creating a downtrodden mass so that the pockets of a few rich families can be further filled. Its not about doing stuff that is of genuine benefit to the inhabitants.

[CMNightRider]

It hasn't all got to do with rice or corn. True, the hills around Mae Cham look as if a retreating army had a scorched earth policy but there is burning everywhere:

1. Villagers are now burning their household refuse at night - including the village head in a village I have close connections with. That's because they don't want to fork out a few baht for rubbish sacks.

2. Whoever is responsible for the highways are burning the verges with impunity. Burning verges inevitably means burning plastic and other toxin producing substances. Fine leadership from the local authorities!

3. Its a myth that burning the forest floor produces more mushrooms. That's a myth perpetuated by the arsonists.

4. And don't keep blaming the Burmese or the Laos. The Karen for one have huge respect for the jungle and know how to rotate the crops without wanton destruction.

Where there's a will there's a way. So if the guys up there want to do something about it they could. But actually, no one seems to care as politics here is about creating a downtrodden mass so that the pockets of a few rich families can be further filled. Its not about doing stuff that is of genuine benefit to the inhabitants.

Well said. I agree with you 100%

[OneZero]

Quote from Folium:

Without being too nerdy (heaven forbid), smog is the generally accepted term for what we are facing today as smoke is not descriptive enough (or negative sounding enough).

Smog is that nasty combination of pollutants in the air (in most of the world the key input is the emission from fossil fuel burning plus sunlight to create photochemical smog, eg LA, Mexico City etc), and a temperature inversion where the pollutants are trapped near the Earth's surface.

Regular fog is the result of temperature inversions and is simply very low-level clouds. Smog is a similar effect but largely composed of pollutants rather than just water moisture.

Here in SE Asia smoke from burning fields, forests and trash is the main contributor, and the weather conditions at this time of year (temperature inversions, little wind and minimal precipitation) are disastrous in combination.

Smog is a firmly negative term associated with pollution and unpleasant side-effects, while smoke is just seen as a temporary byproduct of burning. Unquote

hhper says, Quote

jez soo nerdy........get a life my boy. Unquote

My comment:

Folium is doing us a service by enhancing our understanding of the origin of our situation here in Chiang mai. Admittedly smoke is the primary culprit. But an understanding of the meteorology & atmospheric conditions may help explain the problems timing & intensity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inversion_(meteorology)

Quote: "

Consequences of a thermal inversion

Fata Morgana

of a ship is due to an inversion

Winter smoke in

Shanghai

with a clear border-layer for the vertical air-spread.

Temperature inversion in

Bratislava

, viewing the top of

Nový Most

bridge

With the ceasing of convection, which is normally present in the atmosphere, a number of phenomena are associated with a temperature inversion. The air becomes stiller, hence the air becomes murky because dust and pollutants are no longer lifted from the surface.

This can become a problem in cities where many pollutants exist. Inversion effects occur frequently in big cities such as Mumbai, India;Los Angeles, California; Mexico City; São Paulo, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; and Tehran, Iran but also in smaller cities like Oslo, Norway;Prague, Czech Republic; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Salt Lake City, Utah; Logan, Utah; Vancouver, British Columbia; Chiang Mai; Launceston, Tasmania and Boise, Idaho which are closely surrounded by hills and mountains that together with the inversion effect bottle-caps the air in the city. During a severe inversion, trapped air pollutants form a brownish haze that can cause respiratory problems. The Great Smog of 1952, one of the most serious examples of such an inversion, occurred in London and was blamed for an estimated 11,000 to 12,000 deaths."

Unquote