Every country failed the WHO's 2021 air quality standards - including Singapore - Online Car Marketplace for Used & New Cars

Home/
News /

Every country failed the WHO's 2021 air quality standards - including Singapore Every country failed the...

Every country failed the WHO's 2021 air quality standards - including Singapore

Derryn Wong

28/03/2022

2022 Singapore Air Quality Pollution - CarBuyer Singapore

And Singapore’s air quality still sucks. Terrible results highlight the importance of reducing local air pollution through EVs first, and pushing renewable energy to help combat air pollution

Shanghai, China – Down-lifting news for the month: The World Health Organisation (WHO) announced last week that not a single country in the world managed to meet its air quality standards in 2021.

You probably think, this isn’t a problem – Singapore has pretty decent air quality, right since it’s almost always ‘normal’ according to haze.gov? No, sadly our air quality is quite bad as CarBuyer’s report on this in 2018 shows, and it hasn’t improved much since then, if at all.

2022 Singapore WHO Air Quality - CarBuyer Singapore — The WHO’s short term air quality targets have been revised upwards, probably because few countries passed the criteria

The WHO’s guidelines recommend not exceeding 5.0 micrograms per cubic metre (μg/m³) for PM2.5 and 15μg/m³ for PM10. In late 2021, it announced the interim target of 15μg/m³ for PM2.5 and 45μg/m³ for PM10.

Rising fuel and energy costs abound – even Tesla owners don’t get a free ride anymore

Singapore blitzes PM2.5 – according to haze.gov.sg our 24-hour PM2.5 reading is around 55μg/m³, while passing for PM10 at 30μg/m³. We also pass for oxides of nitrogen (2μg/m³) but fail for carbon monoxide (8μg/m³).

2022 Singapore Air Quality - CarBuyer Singapore — See how Singapore’s air quality stacks up – official readings from Haze.gov.sg

That’s still bad news though – PM2.5’s refer to ultra-fine particles that can not only be inhaled, but also enter your bloodstream through your lungs, and can have serious long term health effects.

Why should you care? According to the WHO, air pollution kills an estimated seven million people per year. In Singapore, chronic respiratory diseases make up more than four percent of our total disease burden, and is the 11th leading cause of death (not counting lung cancer).

BMW shows us that a guilt-free electric drive can also be fun with its new i4 sedan

What does this have to do with cars? A key part of pollution is created by transportation. The WHO recommends various measures, but the obvious thing here with regards to transport is to implement stricter emissions laws, reduce combustion engines, switch to electric/electrified vehicles, and to phase out fossil fuels from energy generation.

Singapore’s Green Plan 2030 is now seeing effect with increasing electrified vehicle takeup rates and first HDB EV chargers appearing, but it’s news like this that tell us we really can’t afford to delay efforts to reduce pollution and go renewable any longer.

About the Author

Derryn Wong

CarBuyer's former chief editor was previously the editor for Top Gear Singapore and a presenter for CNA's Cruise Control motoring segment.

CarBuyer – Revolutionizing The Online Car Marketplace In Singapore

Buy Used And New Cars Online
Start your car buying journey with CarBuyer as we connect you seamlessly to the industry’s best CaseTrust-SVTA accredited car dealerships. As a one stop car online portal you can now buy your new ride, be it a pre-owned car or a brand new car from trusted dealers all over Singapore, all in one place. Our ever expanding listing of quality and covet-worthy cars, new and second hand, from both owners and trusted car dealers, will leave you spoilt for choice. Refine your search by vehicle type, registration year, price, mileage, engine type, transmission, annual depreciation value and more to find the car that best suits your needs, taste and lifestyle. You can even search for your car by dealer or directly by owner.

Sell Your Car In An Instant With Confidence
We all know how selling a car in Singapore can be a daunting task especially for a first time car seller; from trying to get a valuation for your car, finding a trusted dealer, to getting the best quote on your vehicle. CarBuyer understands the hassle and even the costs involved and have as such partnered with Huawei to develop a FIRST in Southeast Asia AI car valuation tool that is able to provide a car’s resale value at the snap of a finger. Backed with a consortium of trusted CaseTrust-SVTA accredited car dealers you can be assured that you are getting the best price for your vehicle and do not have to worry about any hidden costs.

The Ultimate Car Shopping Experience Online
CarBuyer platform is the first of its kind to be backed by Huawei’s Artificial Intelligence and cloud computing, enabling it to be able to offer users transparency and enhanced security, all with the one aim of enhancing customer experience. So come on over to buy and sell used cars online at the best prices at CarBuyer Singapore. Connect easily with dealers in real-time via our online video call feature, or schedule a test drive when you’re ready. Have some questions? Get them answered instantly with our chatbot moderated by our responsive team. Stay in the loop with our car-related tips, reviews and news. Learn the ins-and-outs of your car, as well as global and Singapore’s car updates at your own pace.