I hate the haze!

Damn Indonesian farmers are burning their forests again and the smoke and ash from those fires in Indonesia are starting to blanket the Singapore sky. I'm already falling sick. I reckon it's because of the haze. I woke up this morning with a running nose and a throat irritation. Now I have slight difficulty in breathing. Channel NewsAsia reports that the PSI level for yesterday was 41 and that the haze is expected to go on for the next few days. From Channel NewsAsia:

Singapore skies appear to be hazier than usual. That is because the air quality has deteriorated over the weekend, but the National Environment Agency says there is no cause for alarm

The 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index or PSI is in the good range, with a reading of 41 as of 4pm Sunday.

The 24-hour PSI reading is an average reading taken over a 24 hour period.

NEA explains the PSI reading has been climbing towards the 60s in the later part of the day because of active hot spots of forests fires are continuing in the Indonesian provinces of Jambi and South Sumatra.

I'm pretty sure the air quality today has worsen. A PSI value of 1 to 50 indicates that the level of the air pollutant for the day is in the good range. A PSI of 51 to 100 indicates the level of the air pollutant is in the moderate range. The National Environment Agency will provide an update on the PSI later today.

Meanwhile, the smoke from the Indonesian fires has blanketed large part of west Indonesia and the haze there has been around for a week. From International Herald Tribune:

The smoke was shrouding an estimated 556,000 square kilometers (215,000 square miles) of land on the western islands of Sumatra and Borneo, officials and media reports said.

"The haze has persisted for a whole week," said Frans Tandipau, a senior official tasked with extinguishing forest fires on Sumatra island.

Fires from land-clearing activities in Sumatra and Borneo islands, and to a lesser extent Malaysia, have occurred almost every dry season since the late 1990s. They are typically set by people looking for a cheap way to clear brush for plantations.

In Palangkaraya, on Kalimantan on the Indonesian side of Borneo island, many people were wearing face masks, residents there said. Flights in and out of airports were delayed early Monday when the haze was at its worse.

Air quality levels had reached "dangerous" levels, from "unhealthy" last week, according to a monitoring station in Palangkaraya, state news agency Antara reported.

There's nothing much we in Singapore can do but pray for a change in the wind direction or some rain. Now, if only I can remember the steps to the rain dance again.

Hmmmmmm...

Oh ya, got it.

Update: PSI as of 4pm today has shoot up to 73! (Thanks Shy and Mr Big)