新加坡遭遇史上最严重雾霾天气

Smog worsened in Singapore on Wednesday to a record hazardous level, as smoke from forest fires in neighboring Indonesia blanketed the island country in one of its worst air-pollution crises.

笼罩在新加坡上空的雾霾周三进一步加重，达到了创纪录的有害水平。这次雾霾天气是邻国印尼森林大火所引发的，也是新加坡遭遇的最严重空气污染危机之一。

Singapore's air quality briefly reached officially designated 'hazardous' levels for the first time when the city's three-hour Pollutant Standards Index, a measure of air quality, peaked at 321 in the late evening. It later slipped back to 218, pointing to 'very unhealthy'' conditions. The spike surpassed the previous peak of 226 in September 1997 during one of Southeast Asia's worst stretches of air pollution.

新加坡的空气质量周三晚间首次短暂达到了官方认定的“有害”水平，当时新加坡衡量空气质量的污染物标准指数(Pollutant Standards Index)曾触及321。该指数基于过去三个小时的数据。指数随后回落至218，显示空气质量“非常不利于健康”。周三晚间的最高值超过了1997年9月份触及的上一次峰值226，当时东南亚经历了最严重的空气污染之一。

The pollution was caused mainly by fires on Indonesia's island of Sumatra that were set as a cheap, though illegal, way of clearing land for oil palm plantations. The smog first shrouded Singapore and southern stretches of Peninsular Malaysia over the weekend. Singapore officials have warned that very unhealthy levels of pollution could persist Thursday.

此次污染主要是印尼苏门答腊岛的大火所致。当地人通过烧荒这种违法但是廉价的方式来清理空地用于油棕榈树种植，大火因此产生。上周末，雾霾首次侵袭新加坡和马来西亚半岛南岸。新加坡官员警告，非常不利于健康的空气污染水平可能会持续到周四。

At a hastily called news conference late Wednesday, Vivian Balakrishnan, Singapore's environment minister, said he urged Indonesian authorities to take immediate and concrete action against the haze. A team of Singaporean officials will fly to Indonesia on Thursday to discuss potential remedies.

新加坡环境部长维文(Vivian Balakrishnan)周三晚间在一个紧急召开的资讯发布会上说，他已敦促印尼当局立刻采取具体行动应对雾霾。一个由新加坡官员组成的小组周四将飞往印尼，讨论可能的解决方案。

Continuing fires in Sumatra and slim chances of rain point to persistent haze, Mr. Balakrishnan said, adding officials could shut schools and halt outdoor work activities if air quality worsens further. But he ruled out immediate attempts to seed rain clouds, saying weather conditions weren't favorable.

维文表示，由于苏门答腊岛的大火仍在持续，而且降雨的可能性极低，因此雾霾还将持续。他还说，如果空气质量进一步恶化，政府可能关闭学校，暂停户外作业。但他不考虑立即实施人工降雨，称天气状况并不支持这一做法。

Pollution readings in the 51 to 100 range indicate moderate air quality, while 101 to 200 point to unhealthy conditions. Measurements between 201 and 300 represent a very unhealthy status, while reading above 300 indicates hazardous.

污染指数在51至100之间为空气质量适中，在101至200之间为不利于健康，在201至300之间为非常不利于健康，高于300则为有害水平。

The minister repeated his criticism of Indonesia's failure to tackle haze pollution, a recurring problem in Southeast Asia due to widespread use of fire to clear forest and peatland, often by palm-oil companies and subsistence farmers. Indonesian officials said they are working to douse the flames and have prepared for possible rain seeding of clouds.

维文重申了他对印尼未能解决雾霾污染问题的批评。雾霾污染问题在东南亚屡屡出现，主要是因为当地广泛通过烧荒来清理树林和泥炭地，而这通常是棕榈油企业和为了糊口的农民所为。印尼官员称，正在进行灭火工作，并且已经做好人工降雨的准备。

Air quality hit 'dangerous' levels in Indonesia's Riau province, where most of the fires were located, while more districts in Malaysia's southern Johor state were classified as having 'unhealthy' air quality.

印尼廖内的空气质量已经达到“危险”水平，大多数烧荒所致大火都出现在这里。马来西亚南部柔佛州有更多地区的空气质量达到“不利于健康”的水平。

Malaysia's meteorological office warned of low visibility in southern parts of the Strait of Malacca, which separates the peninsula from Sumatra, saying conditions were dangerous for vessels not equipped with navigational instruments.

马来西亚气象部门警告称，马来半岛与苏门答腊岛之间的马六甲海峡南部能见度较低，对没有配备导航仪器的船只来说，情况比较危险。

In Dumai, a city in Riau province, officials have distributed thousands of masks to help the local populace cope with the pollution.

在廖内省杜迈，官员们已发放数千副口罩，帮助当地人应对空气污染。

In Singapore, the Guardian pharmacy chain said its sales of N95-level masks─which have at least 95% efficiency in filtering material the size of sodium chloride particles, grains of salt─have surged amid the hazy conditions, with sales Sunday and Monday coming in at seven times that of the preceding week. The chain said it also saw demand spike for eye drops, as Monday's sales jumped by as much as 70% from Sunday.

在新加坡，连锁药房Guardian说，在雾霾天气下，N95级口罩的销量飙升，周日和周一的销量是此前一周的七倍。N95级口罩能够过滤掉至少95%的氯化钠颗粒大小的污染物。此外，滴眼液的需求也大幅上升，周一的销量较周日增长了70%。