BBC are reporting that there is a cloud of smog hovering over Marina Bay, which is caused by farmers burning down forests in order create new land.
The smog has been graded Mid to Low Health Quality and it has already been the cause of other sporting events to be cancelled due to a health risk. Authorities will keep an eye on the situation and will make a collective decision in the next few days.
F1 has been quite fortunate, only the Indian Practice Session was delayed by 20 minutes back 2013 due to bad air pollution. Obviously China is always plagued with bad press about poor visibility.
Replies (2)
Login to replypresic
Posts: 21
I live down here in Singapore, and its not the visibility issue directly, it is more the particles in the air that makes strenuous activity an issue. For athletes, they will be able to cope with that. But under the enormous pressure that the drivers are in - considering the heat and the humidity and loss of weight during a race (up to 4 kilo's fluid, apparently) - some of them may experience dizziness due to lack of clean air.
I am not a doctor, but from personal experience I'd say that this is a bad time for the annual haze to come to Singapore. Cancelling F1 however is not something this government wants either.
The Singapore government has planes ready to combat the fires off Sumatra Island, and they are waiting for a signal from the Indonesian government to go put out those fires. So far, as far as we know, there is no green light for that.
Time IS running out though....
khasmir
Posts: 893
All that crap in the air can't be good for anything. And when it's caused by burning down forests that's even worse. I understand people needing to provide for themselves and their family but in the long term it will come back and bite them. And I don't really consider the Indonesian government to be capable to resolve the situation.