Fine dust blankets nation, stagnant air to blame

Environment

Published: 04 Mar. 2024, 15:29 Updated: 04 Mar. 2024, 16:47

Fine dust blankets nation, stagnant air to blame

Thick dust blankets Jongno District, downtown Seoul, on Monday morning. The Korea Environment Corporation said that most parts of the nation will experience high concentrations of fine dust due to stagnant air on Monday. The pollutant is anticipated to disappear on Tuesday as rain falls. [NEWS1]

Fine dust blanketed the Korean Peninsula on Monday as pollutants lingered nationwide due to stagnant air.

According to Air Korea, a high concentration of fine dust was forecast for the day as dust brought from overseas the day before stayed in the country. Air Korea is an air quality tracking website run by the Korea Environment Corporation (K-eco).

Ultrafine dust advisories were issued for parts of North Chungcheong, including Cheongju and Goesan County, as of noon Monday, according to K-eco. Such advisories are issued when the average concentration of ultrafine dust — particles smaller than 2.5 micrometers in diameter — also known as PM 2.5, remains at or over 75 micrograms per cubic meter for two hours.

Older individuals, children and those with respiratory diseases are advised to stay indoors as much as possible when these pollutant levels are high.

The National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) said on Monday morning that the fine dust concentration in the greater Seoul area, including Incheon and Gyeonggi, the Yeongseo region of Gangwon, Chungcheong, Jeolla and Gyeongsang will remain within the “bad” level, the third level of the four-tier system, throughout the day.

The pollution level in North Chungcheong may temporarily reach the “very bad” level as PM 2.5 concentration hovers over 76 micrograms per cubic meter on Monday afternoon.

In the morning, the thick haze spotted in southern Gyeonggi and the Chungcheong and Jeolla regions was expected to fade in the afternoon as the mercury climbs.

Monday morning lows hovered between minus 7 degrees Celsius (19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) and 4 degrees Celsius. Midday highs were forecast to remain from 5 to 14 degrees Celsius as of 11 a.m. Monday, according to the Korean Meteorological Administration.

Monday's fine dust was expected to disappear in the afternoon as a warm and humid southerly wind arrived in most parts of the country, bringing rain and milder weather. Rain was anticipated to fall from late afternoon starting on Jeju Island as a trough with relatively low atmospheric pressure approaches the nation from Shanghai.

The rainfall will expand to Jeolla and the South Gyeongsang region on Monday night.

Most parts of the nation will be cloudy and rainy on Tuesday, with southern regions and Jeju anticipating rain or snow. From noon to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, the greater Seoul area, Gangwon and northern Chungcheong may see rain.

Tuesday marks Gyeongchip, the first day of a new season under the lunar calendar, which signifies the end of hibernation

Mountainous areas of Gangwon and the east coast will experience rain or snow through the night on the same day as the temperature drops.

Jeju anticipates around 20 to 60 millimeters (0.8 to 2.4 inches) of rain from Monday through Wednesday. The south coasts of South Jeolla and South Gyeongsang, Busan, Ulsan and the east coast of North Gyeongsang will experience around 10 to 30 millimeters of precipitation during the same period.

The greater Seoul will see around 5 millimeters of rain through Wednesday, while Jeju expects around 20 to 60 millimeters of rainfall.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]