Air quality

Canman62 wrote:

Looked at a map today of air quality in Asia. South and north Thailand are getting unlivable , again already this year. Hazardous. Figures in the mid 150 s-200 ish
Danang is 17
Can't download the map, this site is very hard for some reason to download pictures.
Anyway, love the ocean breeze in Danang.

Here is a current screenshot:



Based on what I was experiencing in Danang last year at this time, the number "17" seemed incredibly low, as I recall daily readings which were regularly exceeded 100.

As the map indicates, readings are worse in the downtown area of Danang (85) west of the river, and then begin to decrease as you head south to Hoi An (44).

My personal experience (and the experience of multiple local Vietnamese friends in the An Thượng foreigner ghetto next to the southern Danang beach, which is probably about 60) is that the dry monsoon breezes would continually kick up dust and dirt and "other irritants" into the air; a factor not necessarily reflected in air quality indexes.

At least a half dozen of us were suffering the worst rhinitis/hayfever of the year, and only felt relief when the rains finally came.

My personal experience is that the best beach area air quality near Danang is in the area of the painted mural village of:

Tam Thanh
Tam Kỳ, Quang Nam Province
Google Maps link

Anyway, those who are not bothered by hayfever will likely not sense anything other than bliss at the beach...surrounded by tourists...listening to the incessant noise of construction... 😉👍

Canman62 wrote:

Looked at a map today of air quality in Asia. South and north Thailand are getting unlivable , again already this year. Hazardous. Figures in the mid 150 s-200 ish
Danang is 17

Perhaps the reading of 17 you got was during/just after rain?

Canman62 wrote:

Looked at a map today of air quality in Asia. South and north Thailand are getting unlivable , again already this year. Hazardous. Figures in the mid 150 s-200 ish
Danang is 17
Can't download the map, this site is very hard for some reason to download pictures.
Anyway, love the ocean breeze in Danang.

Unfortunately, today the air quality there is much worse, and more inline with what I experienced there at this time last year:



With 145 reading downtown and 85 in Hoi An, I'd guess the reading in the beach area is about 100 today.

Wind from the west
Just checked, one site read 97 the other 21, glad I'm by the ocean.

Canman62 wrote:

Wind from the west
Just checked, one site read 97 the other 21, glad I'm by the ocean.

Maybe you could tell us the names of the sites?

Also, maybe both sites are not measuring on the same scale, as with the difference between Farenheit and Celsius/Centigrade?

Just checked again, 9 and 57
Great.

Canman62 wrote:

Just checked again, 9 and 57
Great.

Perhaps you are quoting both the US AQI and the PM2.5 numbers?

During the rain?

The casual reader (especially those with a history of Rhinitis/Hayfever and Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease/COPD) can get a lot of current, historic and forecast data at this website:

airvisual.com/vietnam/da-nang


If you follow the link to that page, the data suggests that recently, the only relief into "good" range comes at the same time as the rain.

Westerly winds on the map in motion appear to be dragging in part of the really cruddy air from the north.

OceanBeach92107 wrote:

Canman62 wrote:

Wind from the west
Just checked, one site read 97 the other 21, glad I'm by the ocean.

Maybe you could tell us the names of the sites?

Also, maybe both sites are not measuring on the same scale, as with the difference between Farenheit and Celsius/Centigrade?

It turns out there is a difference between the US Air Quality Index (AQI) numbers and the C AQI (China), with the Chinese numbers in the good to moderate range being questionable in comparison:

airvisual.com/en/articles/3029421

When you quote more readings, can you specify which standard is being used?

Canman62 wrote:

Just checked again, 9 and 57
Great.

To be fair, the air does clean up after the rain:



Enjoy!

😎👍

Class few days have been great

Canman62 wrote:

Class few days have been great

Same for me, but in Midwest USA at the moment.  Air quality is probably a 1 or 2 here, LOL.  Maybe a 3 due to cow flatulence.

2 in canada

on Monday 06 January 2020:

Da Nang = 47
Saigon (Ho Chi Minh city) = 171
Hanoi=159
Vung Tau = 108

07 January 2020 22:00 Vung Tau figure =   85

Remains as generally some of the cleanest air in SEA, just checked, 22, friends from Bangkok are here, they are quite happy they can go outside without their n-95 masks on.bangkok162, pattaya 157

I see that Nha Trang rates even lower than Da Nang.

Canman62 wrote:

Remains as generally some of the cleanest air in SEA,....friends from Bangkok are here, they are quite happy they can go outside without their n-95 masks...

Actually, a reading of 145, even if occasionally, is no way 'the cleanest'. Also, ask them to hang on to the masks especially if visiting saigon or hanoi.

The cleanest air in SE Asia is in some parts of the philippines:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/06/19/ … sia-report

Yes, I said some, not the best. and it continues to be on a daily basis.
Hcmc and Hanoi are bad.would never live there, it surprises me the number of people that choose to retire in these places with such bad air.
Could never imagine having to wear a mask to go outside.

Canman62 wrote:

Yes, I said some, not the best. and it continues to be on a daily basis.
Hcmc and Hanoi are bad.would never live there, it surprises me the number of people that choose to retire in these places with such bad air.
Could never imagine having to wear a mask to go outside.

The exact reason I dont live in Saigon. Some people just love all those expat places to eat and drink and cant live without them.

Some retirees will live in major cities like Saigon due to easy access to good quality healthcare.

Also, if planning to visit other countries often, proximity to international airport can feature in their decision. 

sanooku wrote:

Some retirees will live in major cities like Saigon due to easy access to good quality healthcare.

Also, if planning to visit other countries often, proximity to international airport can feature in their decision. 

Breathing in all that pollution and dust,they will need medical care. 50,000 people died in Vietnam in 2019 from air pollution related diseases.

Deaths from pollution

colinoscapee wrote:

sanooku wrote:

Some retirees will live in major cities like Saigon due to easy access to good quality healthcare.

Also, if planning to visit other countries often, proximity to international airport can feature in their decision. 

Breathing in all that pollution and dust,they will need medical care. 50,000 people died in Vietnam in 2019 from air pollution related diseases.

Deaths from pollution

sanooku wrote:

Canman62 wrote:

Remains as generally some of the cleanest air in SEA,....friends from Bangkok are here, they are quite happy they can go outside without their n-95 masks...

Actually, a reading of 145, even if occasionally, is no way 'the cleanest'. Also, ask them to hang on to the masks especially if visiting saigon or hanoi.

The cleanest air in SE Asia is in some parts of the philippines:

https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/03/06/19/ … sia-report

Actually, actually (does repeating actually make it more actual..remains to be seen),  the above 'cleanest air' claim doesn't appear to be true. Armed with the knowledge from the vnexpress article that it ranks 2rd in pollution deaths. I did some further research and found this:

http://www.interaksyon.com/trends-spotl … g-systems/

Yep, that's right. Apparently, the so called top positions for 'clean air' is due to lack of of monitoring systems. How cunning!.

When i first read the 'clean air' article it did surprise me because certain parts of Philippines is (in)-famous for their gridlocked traffic.

Again, another bonus of Danang, International airport! 15 minutes to my room. Cool breeze off the ocean this morning, AQ-29

[Post under review]

MEGAMAGA wrote:

Air quality doesn't matter much to me since I am a heavy smoker.  What is the point of living a few years longer if you're not doing anything that constructive with your life besides sitting at a coffee shop in Vietnam and checking out women whom you can never get anyway?

This would make a great post for a new thread introducing yourself...