<
https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/may/17/honduran-citys-air-pollution-is-almost-50-times-higher-than-who-guidelines>
"The air quality in San Pedro Sula, the second-largest city in Honduras, as
been classified as the most polluted on the American continent due to forest
fires and weather conditions aggravated by El Niño and the climate crisis.
IQAir, a Swiss air-quality organisation that draws data from more than 30,000
monitoring stations around the world, said on Thursday that air quality in the
city of about 1 million people has reached “dangerous” levels.
IQAir found that levels of PM2.5 – dangerous air particulates of less than 2.5
micrometres in diameter – reached 249.1 mcg/m³ this week. World Health
Organization guidelines state that annual mean concentrations should not exceed
5mcg/m³.
Honduran authorities have raised the threat level to its highest in most of the
country’s departments because of the public health risks, and advised people to
close windows and stay indoors to avoid exposure to contaminated air.
Education secretary Daniel Sponda said public and private schools were to be
temporarily closed due to the “risk to the physical integrity of the
educational community”. The health secretariat has registered an increase of
20% in patients with respiratory infections.
“We have seen a steep increase in respiratory emergencies, especially within
vulnerable populations, such as children and senior citizens,” said Dr
Cristobal Bustamante, the national director of the emergency medical unit of
the Honduran Permanent Contingency Commission. “We have also recorded an
increase in cardiac complications and exacerbated asthma.”
Bustamante said high levels of air contamination can harm the airways, ranging
from irritation and inflammation to cell damage and aggravation of existing
respiratory diseases.
The clouds of air pollution hanging over Honduran cities have been so thick
that in the past two days, several planes due to land in San Pedro Sula were
forced to divert to neighbouring countries because the pilots could not see the
runways. A number of airports in Honduras have since had to close.
“We have never had to shut down the airport due to the air quality, so it’s a
first for us,” said Abraham Manun, the head of operations at the Ramón Villeda
Morales international airport in San Pedro Sula. “It’s out of our hands and
disrupts the entire flight commerce into and out of Honduras, which mainly
flows through our airport. We had to cancel or reroute five international and
12 national flights. There is nothing we can do about it but wait.”
The air contamination has been caused by aggressive temperature spikes during
the El Niño phenomenon, which has affected “the dry corridor” that crosses
through Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
