Haze moves north, five areas with very unhealthy air

PETALING JAYA: The haze that had enveloped most of the southern parts of the peninsula on Wednesday seemed to have moved north.

While the Air Pollutant Index reading for Port Klang and Shah Alam moved back to the unhealthy range on Thursday morning (from very unhealthy on Wednesday), residents in Perlis and Penang are breathing very unhealthy air.

At 8am Thursday, the API (at very unhealthy levels) for some areas are: Kangar (235), Alor Setar (218), Bakar Arang, Sg Petani (237), Langkawi (230), Seberang Perai 2 (262) and USM (228).

Other areas (unhealthy levels): Banting (122), Kuala Selangor (149), Port Klang (161), Petaling Jaya (116), Shah Alam (139), Kemaman (106), Kuala Terengganu (108), Batu Muda, KL (122), Cheras (100), Putrajaya (118), Kuching (125), Tawau (117), Samarahan (131), Sarikei (108), Sibu (109), Sri Aman (162), Kota Baru (122), Tanah Merah (119), Malacca (102), Bukit Rambai (105), Nilai (102), Seremban (106), Port Dickson (95),  Jalan Tasek, Ipoh (157), Kg Air Putih, Taiping (163), SK Jalan Pagoh, Ipoh (173), Seri Manjung (183), Tanjung Malim (135), Perai (187).

An API of between 0 to 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 (moderate), 101 to 200 (unhealthy), 201 to 300 (very unhealthy), 301 and above (hazardous).