Jakarta's Air Quality Ranked Worst in the World This Morning

Air quality in Jakarta fell into the unhealthy category and was ranked first as the city with the worst air in the world this morning. The Air Quality Index (AQI) in Jakarta stood at 174, placing it in the unhealthy category. According to data from the air quality monitoring site IQAir at 05:50 WIB, PM2.5 pollution had a concentration value of 73 microgrammes per cubic metre. This figure indicates that the air quality level is unhealthy for sensitive groups, as it can harm sensitive humans or animal groups and could cause damage to plants or aesthetic values. The site also recommended that people avoid outdoor activities. If outdoors, wearing a mask is necessary, and windows should be closed to prevent dirty outside air from entering. Meanwhile, the good category is an air quality level that has no effect on human or animal health and does not affect plants, buildings, or aesthetic values, with a PM2.5 range of 0-50. The moderate category indicates air quality that does not affect human or animal health but affects sensitive plants and aesthetic values, with a PM2.5 range of 51-100. The very unhealthy category has a PM2.5 range of 200-299, where air quality can harm the health of a number of exposed population segments. Lastly, the hazardous category (300-500) generally indicates air quality that can cause serious health harm to the population. The city with the second worst air quality was Chengdu, China, at 156. Third was Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, at 154, fourth was Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at 149, and fifth was Kampala, Uganda, at 142. The Jakarta Environmental Agency has launched an integrated air quality monitoring platform supported by 31 Air Quality Monitoring Stations (SPKU) spread across the metropolitan city. Data obtained from these SPKU is then displayed through the air quality monitoring platform. This was created as an improvement over the previous system and complies with nationally applicable standards. The page also displays data from the 31 SPKU in Jakarta, integrating data from SPKU owned by the Jakarta Environmental Agency, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia, and Vital Strategies.