A haze hovers over the affecting southern parts of Metro Manila on September 22, 2023 as viewed from Quezon City. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News
MANILA — The haze in the capital region is now improving, the state weather agency said Sunday, after an intense smog on Friday caused by pollution from vehicles blanketed its skies and plunged air quality.
PAGASA weather specialist Rhea Torres told ABS-CBN News that the haze could still be observed in Metro Manila, although it is not as harsh compared to the smog on Friday when health officials urged masking because of the health risks it posed.
The smog on Friday, which led to class cancellations, was exacerbated by a phenomenon called thermal inversion, Torres noted. It occurs when warm air traps colder air, including pollutants from cars and industries.
"Actually, present naman po palagi 'yung haze," Torres said.
"In this case po kasi cloudy lang po tapos mahina pa 'yung hangin, and then sa observations po namin wala naman pong factor ng thermal inversion na present," she said of the present atmospheric condition.
(Actually, the haze is always present. In this case, it's only cloudy and the wind is weak, and then in our observations, there is no factor of thermal inversion present.)
MASK
The weather forecaster said it is still advisable for Metro Manila residents to keep face coverings because of the consistent threat of pollution in the urban area.
"Since palaging present 'yung pollution... mahirap kasi sabihing okay nang 'wag mag-mask. Nasa sa kanila na rin po 'yung decision na 'yun," Torres also said.
(Since pollution is always present... it's hard to say it's okay not to wear a mask. That decision is up to them.)
She added that better air quality, at the very least, could be expected in the next few days.
However, she is not ruling out the possibility that a bad haze day will happen again as the occurrence of the thermal inversion cannot be predicted.