All big cities have more pollution than the middle of nowhere. The fact is compared to most other big cities pollution in Taipei is at a very low level and Taiwan as a whole has a low level of pollution for its population density. Deal with it.
Yeah. Bad air tends to make things look foggy
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Whatever you say, I’ve been in many big cities and those don’t have millions of scooter direct to my lung. Taipei is fine during the night.
There are only millions of scooters during rush hour and on specific routes. Most of the time during the day scooters exist but they are not particularly imposing.
I’d say that anywhere where natural pollution is normal (no active volcanoes, no sand storms, etc) and human pollution is neglibible has good levels of pollution. There are always chemicals and particles in the air, everywhere.
Pretty much everywhere with a relatively close human activity has worse than good levels.
It’s probably a problem of semantics and we both agree on the matter.
Fire at the flee market a few days ago in Taichung certainly didn’t help. Just a little down the road from the Taiyuan train station.
Yeah, noticed that this morning. One would expect something else…
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Say ‘sorry’, Canada!
“Dozens of wildfires are burning in the Canadian province of Québec, and the smoke is so bad that it’s causing air quality problems across large swaths of the U.S.
The National Weather Service said air quality has “plummeted” across the Northeast.
“Officials from the Midwest to the East Coast and as far south as North Carolina are warning residents to take precautions as the hazy smoke floats south and poses a risk to public health.”
That’s odd. Never in my life have I heard of wildfires in Quebec in June. Climate change?
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Presumably a factor. It’s definitely a bad year, already.
Fire season in Quebec usually starts in late May. In an average year, only 247 hectares (a square mile) of area would be burned by June 5, according to Quebec’s fire prevention agency (SOPFEU). But so far this year, 160,000 hectares (600 square miles) have burned.
Source: Fires Burn Across Quebec.
EDIT: You may find Taiwan is more accessible for outdoor activities this summer than big stretches of Canada! I don’t know Quebec well enough to recognize what the areas are, but red are forests that are closed for entry at the moment:
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Canada absolutely deserves criticism as a major petro state digging out oil and selling it to the world. The resulting carbon in the atmosphere has led to the rising temperatures that have in turn led to these awful fires, which are becoming the norm, not the exception. If you have never experienced this sort of forest fire smoke in your community, it is just awful.
Guy
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Same with Australia. Will they end up cooking themselves.
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I’ve been in those areas, as per your quote this is an incredibly bad year
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Prompted by this @RickRooney quote from a few days ago over in the “Wack Things in Taiwan 2023” thread, a map of the air quality today - still not great everywhere, but I’m pretty happy with it in Danshui! Below that is the whole island, which doesn’t look as good.
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Another factory fire.
Residents reported the strong smell of burning plastic in the air in Zuoying District and Gushan Districts. Testing is being conducted by Kaohsiung City’s Environmental Protection Bureau on air quality in downwind areas such as Nanzi, Zuoying, Gushan, Qianjin, Sanmin, Cijin, and Qianzhen districts. Residents in those areas are advised to close their doors and windows and reduce outdoor activities, reported ETtoday.
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