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This claim was refuted by the Division of Environmental Protection under Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, saying the result was recorded at one location and therefore cannot represent the whole city’s AQI.  Air Visual’s result was taken at the monitoring station near the US Embassy in Hanoi which is surrounded by large-scale construction sites, explained the Environmental Protection Division. Meanwhile, Hanoi’s AQI on September 26 was reportedly 157, according to the city’s automated air monitoring result announced on its web portal. Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s monitoring system also showed a low pollution level these days, suggesting that the smog level only go up during certain times of the day. On the other hand, unfavorable weather had caused smog to form above the city for days. Specifically, the lack of rainfall and wind led to poor air dispersion, causing dust to be held beneath the cloud … [Read more...] about Hanoi officials decline Air Visual’s AQI evaluation

Smart city building is current trend satisfying demand of modern urban management and Da Nang City’s unprecedented development. Last year, the People’s Committee of Da Nang issued smart city project for the period 2018-2025 with the vision to 2030 including three phases. To effectively build the city, the project put forward six solutions including supporting leaders and state-run employees to access to technology and IT corporate innovation models which have been really implemented in some localities. Some highlighted solutions such as Internet of Things (IoT) , smart traffic and smart parking lot, smart buildings to drive energy efficiencies were suggested. The Internet of Things (IoT) offers new opportunities for cities to use data to manage traffic, cut pollution, make better use of infrastructure and keep citizens safe. Additionally, optimizing aspects such as space and curbing environmental impacts was also mentioned in the seminar. General Director of Microsoft … [Read more...] about Da Nang looks for solution to smart city building

The action plan sets out the measures being taken to improve air quality by using emission inventories to help determine significant sources of air pollutants and supervise air quality on both regional and local scales to improve it for community health. Meantime, the Ministry of natural Resources and Environment has built a control strategy related to air quality as well as complete legal document on environment protection. Specifically, the Ministry has implemented air quality law according to the environment law 2014 with the focus on management and monitoring sources of air pollution and individual responsibility. The Environment Protection Department in Hanoi yesterday announced the air quality index (AQI) was measured at 127. When AQI values are above 100, air quality is considered to be unhealthy at first for certain sensitive groups of people including elderly people, pregnant women, children and people suffering chronic diseases, said a representative of the Ministry of … [Read more...] about Vietnamese PM approves Air Quality Action plan

As reported, there were hundreds of thousands of ancient-sawed trees with a diameter up to 80 cm at the scene.   According to the professional agencies, this is a large scale calculated systematic deforestation. The culprits used gasoline saws and motor vehicles to carry out the deforestation. After being sawn down, big trees were moved to other places for consumption, and the scene was cleaned and burnt for many times to delete traces.  It is noted that the deforestation occurred in forest area of Phuong Mai Wind Power Joint Stock Company assigned by Binh Dinh province. Meanwhile, the surrounding forest areas are still being protected, covered with white sand. In August, 2015, the People's Committee of Binh Dinh province had issued a document to transfer the entire protective forest along the DT639 road to no longer performing the protective function; however, the province required the wind power enterprises and authorities to undertake measures to care, protect and … [Read more...] about More than 140 hectares of forest destroyed in Binh Dinh

According to AirVisual, AQI measured at more than 20 locations were above 100 from September 14-16. The PM2.5 fine dust readings in Hanoi has reached 111.3µg/m³ on September 17, 4.5 times higher than the national standard (25µg/m³) and is 11.1 times the annual average quantity set by WHO. It is estimated that every increment of 10µg/m³ in PM2.5 would increase the rate of hypertensive emergency patients by 8%. Long exposure to fine dusts increases risks of cardiovascular diseases, chronic bronchitis, lung function reduction, and death by lung cancer and heart diseases, among others. PM2.5 in particular can speed up cirrhosis and increase risks of metabolic diseases and liver dysfunction. PM2.5 also causes insulin resistance, inflammation and increased diabetes complications. The two main sources of air pollution in Hanoi are the dismantlement of construction sites and emissions from the large amount of vehicles, said Chairman of Hanoi People’s … [Read more...] about Alarming developments regarding air pollution in Hanoi