KUALA LUMPUR – The air quality in Malaysia has deteriorated since this morning, with 11 areas marked as ‘dangerous’ on the Air Pollutant Index (API), especially for Johor’s Larkin, Melaka’s Bukit Rambai and Negri Sembilan’s Nilai.
The hourly readings released on the API Management System website showed that as of 6pm, Larkin recorded the highest reading at 155 followed by Bukit Rambai and Nilai at 153.
At 9am today, Larkin’s air quality reading was reported at 150, while Bukit Rambai was at 98 and Nilai at 100.
An API reading is categorised as 0-50 (good), 51-100 (moderate), and 101-200 (unhealthy).
Besides that, Johor’s Batu Pahat (144) and Segamat (117) also saw a drop in air quality, while Bandaraya Melaka’s air quality reading was at ‘dangerous’ at 3pm, going from 109 to 139 by 6pm.
Cheras and Port Dickson recorded an air quality reading of 152 this evening, similar to Selangor’s Banting (141) and Penang’s Seberang Jaya (110).
While Seremban is at 106, areas in Kedah, Perak, Putrajaya, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan remain at moderate air quality levels. Barring Keningau (56), localities in Sabah recorded good API readings.
On Friday, the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) activated an Alert Level 2 warning for Sumatra.
ASMC said over the past week, extended dry weather conditions have become more widespread across southern Asean, which has contributed to an increase in the number of hotspots in the region.
Based on surveillance from the NOAA-20 satellite, 241 and 145 hotspots were detected in Sumatra on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively.
Moderate to dense smoke haze was observed to emanate from clusters of hotspots detected in the central and southern parts of Sumatra, increasing the risk of transboundary smoke haze. – October 1, 2023