Dust dome to blame for city s haze
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Air safety threshold may be lowered
published : 22 Jan 2021 at 05:00
52 A visitor on Thursday relaxes at Chatuchak Park, which is among 20 public parks installed with a machine that delivers a real-time gauge of air quality in Bangkok. (Photo: Arnun Chonmahatrakool)
The drop in air quality across Bangkok over the past week is caused by an urban dust dome over the city, which formed as low atmospheric pressure and high-rise buildings trapped dust and other pollutants from the burning of agricultural waste, says Natural Resources and Environment Minister Varawut Silpa-archa.
The haze which has shrouded Bangkok over the past four to five days wasn t just caused by the build-up of microfine PM2.5 dust, as the concentration of larger PM10 pollutants and greenhouse gases has also soared.