The skies here in KHH are noticeably greyer this morning.
I’m trying to understand how much is fog and how much is pollution. It hasn’t rained in quite a while so this may be standard buildup, but I don’t know.
I compare wind direction and PM2.5 levels from Windy app with AQI app to try to see what’s happening.
Looks like current pollution in South is self generated in Taiwan and possibly includes wind pushing some from North. And maybe wind just stagnated over Taiwan and not moving much out.
2 Likes
So if the pollution is extra high (as it is bow) and the skies are extra grey, and the wind isn’t very strong (I suppose that’s what the color readings are in the first one - wind intensity) probably we can correlate the thick haze as being at least mostly pollution-based?
It’s a heavy cloud of Rona settling on the city.
I’d start running
1 Like
as @tango42 says it looks like self generated pollution.
looking out to the north of the city its bad i can’t even see 85 building,
its about 5km away i have a good view of it and use it as my pollution monitor.
The south of the city and out over the sea is better, some of it is fog/mist and is starting to lift but that’s not much of it.
3 Likes
I use the same building as my judge. Sadly it is often 50% or less visible coming down off the train tracks overpass down Boai. Thats only a couple km straight shot away
On a clear day after a heavy rain and low pollution reading (bybtaiwan standards) you should be able to see the 85 and xiao liu qiu from sandimen/neipu mountain areas. The fact we often cant see that building from down the street is alarming. And kaohsiung is considered relatively dry for taiwan…
2 Likes
About 8:30 this morning i rode my scooter to Pingtung city and the pollution seems to get worse (but that is north from me), later went to Neipu and it was ok but that could have been time of day.
Back to Kaohsiung now and it’s just grey and drab.
I did not know that. I guess conditions have to be absolutely perfect.
looking from the island yes
That is the problem. People areso used to horrendous air quality, as soon as you can see out the window it seems like the lights just turned on.
I refuse to give in to this narrative as it is a slipperly slope of complacency that will do nothing to improve our absolutely shameful air quality.
As abive says about drivin to pingtung city then neipu. No one ever talks about pingtung, but that is taiwans dirty little secret. Much of the kaohsiung pollution is near ciastal. It blows away. I have made sarcastic remarks to the taichung air pollution deniers about a great location such as kaohsiung and how if you see 10nunits of pollution there, due to their location, probably 200 units were created. Then think about certqin valleys. Neipu isnt horrible in comparison to other places. Just see the geography and think about wind.
Sandimen and all he way up into majia on the southern split of hat river and dawen on the northern side. At thebase its HORRIBLE when the weather is good the inner north face of the mountain is good (actually still horrible but speaking in taiwan terms) and the south face in majia (ibto about where they block to road to get into Salawan) is crazy bad.
My issue is they are all bad. But people are ao used to grey, the second they see green. They start praising how clean it is. In that same majia valley, and all surrounding valleys with easy car access, you would be sho ked how many weekend warriors from nearer the coast (most kaohsiung) are goin there to camp, fill water bottles and/or lease (“buy” haha) aboriginal land. The entire thing is so mind numbingly ignorant one cant help but wonder what s happening to our brains with all this pollution…
1 Like
Yeah I have noticed how bad Pingdong is over the years, a crying shame as it’s quite a beautiful county. People here grow up with that washed out grey and milky sky, they think it’s normal.
Guess north taiwan with its constant rain has its good things.
Yeah, I live in Kaohsiung. It’s not terrible, but I’d definitely trade it for Taipei if not for my work. Rain doesn’t bother me, and there’s a lot more diverse (and better) restaurants, funky districts and things to do in Taipei. Kaohsiung has about 3 cool areas and that’s it. Our pollution is so bad you can taste it some mornings, and (I don’t care what graphs people post) our heat is more oppressive during the summer months. A lot of public places, including my school, have mandated that there should be no air-con while this corona pandemic is happening… so sweating to the point of possible heat exhaustion is a lot of fun for teachers and students alike.
2 Likes
As predicted.
1 Like
Perhaps this will be the thing that made public nudity a freedom 
Today is the exact opposite of the type of day that I was describing/complaining about When I posted this thread 10 days ago.
I have never seen the sky as clear in this city as it is today.
What happened? Did all the manufacturing plants go out of business last night?
It’s labor day 
Labor day was Friday - or are you telling me just one day after the factories close, the sky is already this clear?
I started my Taiwan time in Kaohsiung and somehow got used to that city’s weather.
Then I moved to PingDong city in hope for a more relaxed and greener environment and how wrong that decision actually was. There is not much industry there except their are digging out the river-beds in need of producing much desired concrete. I don’t blame PingDong government for anything, it is just due to the nearby surroundings (mountains, valley) the weather can’t absorb the pollution produced elsewhere.
Bottom is my lungs got terrible infected there, permanent coughing as a consequence. I have moved to Taichung and well, for me it is paradise here, never had a cleaner Taiwan air before.
Nevertheless I continuously hear Taichung residents complaining about the bad air quality dues to the relatively new power coal plant.
1 Like
Damn this may be the first time I have seen this sequence of words all together in one place.
Hope you can take care of your health. Lung damage sucks!
Guy
1 Like