Elements for Life

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INGAPORE IS A

small city state comprising of one main

island and a number of islets. Located about 1.5 degrees

north of the equator; it has a climate with uniform

temperature and pressure, high humidity and heavy rainfall.

With a land area of only 699 km

, Singapore has a popula-

tion of more than 4.3 million, has over 750,000 motor vehicles,

and handles 423 million tonnes of sea cargo and over 1.8

million tonnes of air cargo each year. Furthermore, Singapore

has many large-scale industries such as oil refineries, petro-

chemical complexes, and pharmaceutical and electronic

factories. As a result, the challenges Singapore faces in achiev-

ing and sustaining a clean and healthy environment are

immense, in particular ensuring good air quality to protect the

health and well-being of its inhabitants.

Despite its many challenges and constraints, Singapore has

succeeded, over the years, in keeping its air healthy. Singapore

continues to enjoy good ambient air quality, assessed as ‘good’

most days of the year. The average levels of key air pollutants are

low and have been stable over the years, except for 1994 and

1997, because of trans-boundary smoke haze from land and forest

fires in the region. Singapore has adopted the use of the Pollutant

Standards Index (PSI) to measure its air quality. This indicator,

which was developed by the United States Environmental

Protection Agency (USEPA), shows that in 2005, Singapore

enjoyed 88 per cent of days with ‘good’ air quality, with the

remaining 12 per cent in the ‘moderate’ range.

Environmental management in Singapore

The main cause of air pollution in Singapore is the burning of

fossil fuels in industrial processes, electricity generation and trans-

portation. Fuel consumption, with its resulting emissions,

inevitably increases with economic and population growth.

Although climate and geography do play a role in facilitating the

safe dispersion of the air pollutants emitted, there is a limit as to

howmuch emission the environment in Singapore can assimilate

without resulting in a deterioration of its air quality. A rigorous

environmental management programme, comprising of envi-

ronmental planning and development controls, regulatory

control, ambient air quality monitoring, partnership initiatives

and international cooperation, is required to keep emissions

Improved air quality in Singapore

Foong Chee Leong, Director-General, Meteorological Services Division,

Joseph Hui, Director-General, Environmental Protection Division,

The National Environment Agency, Singapore

Singapore continues to enjoy good air quality most days of the year

Environmental considerations are incorporated in land-use planning,

development and building control

Photo: National Environment Agency and Singapore Environment Council