World’s 4th worst smog level in Chiang Mai

The suffocating blanket of toxic smog in Chiang Mai is once again obscuring the iconic Doi Suthep mountain from close range.
The suffocating blanket of toxic smog in Chiang Mai is once again obscuring the iconic Doi Suthep mountain from close range.

Most provinces in the North were covered with dangerous red-coded levels of PM2.5 on Monday morning, with Chiang Mai rated the city with the fourth worst air pollution in the world.

The Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (Gistda) reported at 8am on Monday that 11 provinces were facing red (seriously harmful) levels of PM2.5, ranging from 82.1 to 158.8 microgrammes per cubic metre of air over the past 24 hours. The safe threshold is at 37.5µg/m³.

The worst level, 158.8, was measured in Chiang Rai, followed by 141.9 in Chiang Mai, 136.4 in Lamphun, 131.6 in Phayao, 128.2 in Mae Hong Son, 118.6 in Lampang, 102.3 in Phrae, 94.9 in Nan, 87.8 in Sukhothai, 85.5 in Uttaradit and 82.1 in Tak. All of them are northern provinces.

Orange (initially unsafe) levels of PM2.5 were detected in 46 other provinces, mostly in the Northeast and the Central Plains. They ranged from 38.2 to 67.6µg/m³.

Provinces in the East and the South had moderate and good air quality. Phuket had the best air quality with 15.3µg/m³ of PM2.5, followed by Phang Nga with 15.7µg/m³. Both are in the South.

IQAir rated Chiang Mai as the major city with the world's fourth worst air pollution on Monday morning after Delhi, Lahore and Kathmandu.

Vocabulary

  • detected: noticed, discovered or found out - จับได้ พบได้
  • harmful: causing damage or injury to somebody/something, especially to a person's health or to the environment - เป็นอันตราย,เป็นภัย
  • initially: at first - ในเบื้องต้น
  • moderate: neither very great nor very small in strength, size, amount or degree - ระดับปานกลาง
  • PM2.5 (n): atmospheric particulate matter (PM) with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres, which is about 3% the diameter of a human hair. It can lodge in the lungs and enter blood vessels, leading to respiratory and cardiovascular disease -
  • range: to have an upper and a lower limit in amount, number, etc - ผันแปรภายในขอบเขตหนึ่ง
  • smog (noun): clouds of dirty and smokey air - หมอกควัน, ควัน, ควันพิษ,
  • threshold: the level or point at which you start to experience something, or at which something starts to happen - จุดเริ่มของประสบการณ์หรือเหตุการณ์ใหม่ๆ
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