The air in Hanoi is very bad.

On the morning of December 23, Hanoi had light fog, but by 9 a.m. the weather started to get sunny and the fog gradually cleared. According to the monitoring results of the Department of Environmental Pollution Control, two out of three locations recorded very poor air quality, with AQI above 200, warning of serious health impacts for everyone. Specifically, the measuring point on Giai Phong Street, Hai Ba Trung District, had an AQI of 252 at 9 a.m. The station on Nguyen Van Cu Street, Long Bien District, had an AQI of 218.

Among the monitoring stations of the Hanoi Department of Natural Resources and Environment, the station at the People's Committee of Minh Khai Ward, Bac Tu Liem District recorded the most pollution. During the three hours from 9-11pm yesterday, the AQI index rose above 380 - a dangerous level, an urgent warning that seriously affects everyone's health. By this morning, the AQI had decreased but was still very bad.

All remaining monitoring stations in Hanoi, including suburban stations, recorded air quality at or above the bad level. For example, in Chuong My, the AQI was 193, Thanh Tri 161, Thach That 169, Hoai Duc 186.

At the same time, a statistical system of more than 30,000 air quality monitoring stations worldwide ranked Hanoi as the fourth most polluted city with an index of 276, followed by Delhi, India, at 316.

The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said that this week the North will be affected by a weakening cold front. On December 24-25, the sky will be cloudy with fog in the early morning. On December 26-28, there will be light rain at night and in the morning. Air pollution is forecast to become more severe due to the phenomenon of temperature inversion and the almost absence of factors that help disperse dust.

The air quality in Hanoi has been deteriorating since October, when the weather changes and winter approaches. The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and Hanoi are implementing measures to reduce emissions. With the largest source of emissions coming from traffic, Hanoi is developing a plan for a low-emission zone. With construction and road dust, the city is spraying more frequently.