SMOG SO TERRIBLE, BANGKOK CLOSES HUNDREDS OF SCHOOLS FOR A WEEK
So we’ve got just a few schools closed across the United States this past week. But that’s because of the polar vortex and the crazy insane freezing temperatures no one is ever ready for. But Bangkok has had to close hundreds of schools for an entire week for a totally different reason. Smog. That’s right, the smog is so bad in Bangkok the air outside is not safe to breathe. So Bangkok decided the safest choice was to keep all those children home, and not out commuting thru the city to their schools. Now that’s some seriously terrible smog.
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THAI CAPITAL SAW AIR QUALITY INDEX DANGEROUS EVEN FOR HEALTHY PEOPLE
Bangkok, as you surely know, is the Capital city of Thailand. They’ve had pretty bad air quality the past month. But it got so bad they had so shut down the schools for health safety. In this case, the pollution entailed tiny particles, or particulate matter in the air. But these particles can enter your lungs and heart and cause lasting, dangerous damage. The Air Quality Index measured these particles as high as 200 this week. Even healthy people are at risk in those conditions. 41 different areas around the city measured dangerously high.
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MORE THAN 400 SCHOOLS CLOSED AS EVEN ARTIFICIAL RAIN DIDN’T CLEAN THE AIR
So that’s why the city closed more than 400 public schools for the week. A government spokesman, Puttipong Punnakan, addressed the situation saying, “We will assess the situation on Saturday and Sunday to see whether there would be the need to close all schools further next week.” So what caused this crazy pollution? Car traffic, crop burnings, factory emissions and construction all played a role. Bangkok even did cloud seeding early in January to create rain to wash out the air. But that didn’t work. Nor did shooting water cannons in the air! So for now, officials have declared the city a “pollution control zone.”
Scary times.
