Smog and pollution in Hanoi

Here is what smog and pollution looks like in a major urban center with 10-15% growth in traffic each year:

Hanoi has looked like this ever since we got back from central Vietnam.  It has been bad before, but this has been the worst.  And since the weather forecast calls for 90 degree days and no rain for next ten days, we imagine it will stay this way or get worse.

Hanoi's air pollution was rated worst in Southeast Asia a couple of years ago, and Vietnam's air pollution is on the 10 Worst countries list in a study released at the World Economic Summit in Davos, Switzerland.

This picture out our bedroom window is particularly disturbing.  If you look carefully through the smog, you can see a very tall building.  Normally we can see that building quite clearly and can even see the word "LOTTE" on the side.

And more disturbing: on the left is the "official" air quality index number provided by the Vietnamese government.  It lists the AQI at 46, which is good.  However, U.S. Embassies around the world have started setting up their own AQI monitors and posting them daily.  This morning's number from the U.S. Embassy is Hanoi is 288, which is rated "Very Unhealthy" (the scale is 0 - 300, with anything over 300 rated "Hazardous").  Obviously they both can't be right, and one look out any window will tell you who is closer to the truth.