National Air Pollution Crisis in Laos

Laos suffers from severe haze during the dry season, with PM2.5 concentrations reaching up to 218 µg/m3 (the safety threshold is 50 µg), and the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the capital city of Vientiane and other places persistently ranging from 117 to 269. The causes and impacts of the crisis are a combination of agricultural burning, forest fires, and garbage incineration, with satellite monitoring showing a high concentration of fires throughout the country. The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has noted the correlation between air pollution in Laos and cross-border smog events in Southeast Asia, with local crises exacerbated by pollutant transport from neighboring Thailand and Vietnam.