{"id":641701,"date":"2026-10-09T23:54:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T23:54:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/641701\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T23:54:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T23:54:19","slug":"one-of-the-worlds-wealthiest-cities-is-enduring-the-worlds-most-polluted-air-heres-why","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/641701\/","title":{"rendered":"One of the world\u2019s wealthiest cities is enduring the world\u2019s most polluted air. Here\u2019s why"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Singapore, one of the wealthiest cities in the world, has become the most polluted on the planet as it chokes under a blanket of thick, toxic smog caused by fires in neighboring Indonesia.\n <\/p>\n

\n Pollution has cast a pall on the city-state as it gets ready to host a packed weekend of marquee events ranging from international conferences to the glitzy Formula One Grand Prix night race.\n <\/p>\n

\n Air quality in the city-state was at the \u201cvery unhealthy\u201d range with an air quality index (AQI) of 216 Friday mid-morning, according to Swiss air quality monitor IQAir.\n <\/p>\n

\n The financial hub topped the list of most polluted cities by IQAir this week and was still at the top spot Friday morning. Kuala Lumpur, also deeply affected by the Indonesian fires, was at number two.\n <\/p>\n

\n Singapore\u2019s skyline, including Marina Bay Sands and other skyscrapers were reduced to faint silhouettes amid the pollution.\n <\/p>\n

\n The key Asian financial hub \u2013 with a population of 6.21 million and annual GDP of more than $650 billion \u2013 and neighboring Malaysia have had to endure the haze almost annually.\n <\/p>\n

\"Pedestrians<\/p>\n

\n Fires in Indonesia are an annual event during the country\u2019s dry season when huge stretches of peatland are cleared and drained for commercial plantations, including those that produce palm oil, an ingredient used in a slew of products from noodles to toothpaste.\n <\/p>\n

\n But this year, the arrival of what\u2019s expected to be a \u201csuper\u201d El Ni\u00f1o<\/a> \u2014 a supercharged version of the natural climate pattern which tends to bring bone dry conditions to the country \u2014 has set the stage for unusually intense blazes.\n <\/p>\n

\n In an update on its website Thursday, Singapore\u2019s National Environment Agency said \u201cmoderate to dense smoke plumes from southern and central Sumatra and West Kalimantan were observed to drift towards Singapore,\u201d referring to Indonesian regions.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cUnder the prevailing southeasterly or southerly winds, smoke haze may continue to drift towards Singapore,\u201d it added.\n <\/p>\n

\n Entertainment events held outdoors at the F1 event in Singapore could potentially be affected but not the race itself, the motorsport\u2019s governing FIA said Thursday, according to Reuters. On Friday, race organizer Singapore GP told CNN \u201cthere are currently no plans to modify our entertainment activities\u201d at the event.\n <\/p>\n

\n Acts to entertain F1 spectators include Janet Jackson and The Killers, among others.\n <\/p>\n

\n This is not the first time the Singapore night race is facing air quality issues. The races in 2015 and 2019 were also enveloped in thick haze and they went ahead.\n <\/p>\n

\"Formula<\/p>\n

\n Nevertheless, the Singapore Tourism Board told CNN on Friday: \u201cAction plans are in place based on the intensity of the haze.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n F1 drivers, however, don\u2019t seem too bothered. Cadillac driver Valtteri Bottas, who cycled more than 400km (248 miles) from Malaysia to Singapore this week, told Reuters: \u201cI don\u2019t feel like it\u2019s that extreme yet. I mean, it\u2019s not great, but I don\u2019t think there\u2019s that much you can do.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Ferrari\u2019s Lewis Hamilton told Reuters he has \u201cmuch bigger issues to focus on.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Neighboring Malaysia has also been heavily affected by the smog with the education ministry shutting schools across several states this week as the situation worsens.\n <\/p>\n

\n Laura Paddison contributed reporting.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Singapore, one of the wealthiest cities in the world, has become the most polluted on the planet as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":641702,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[242,85,46,141],"class_list":["post-641701","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-environment","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-science"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641701","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=641701"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/641701\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/641702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=641701"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=641701"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=641701"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}