Ministry says lack of wind to blame for western Taiwan smog

Taipei, Feb. 27 (CNA) Red warnings at 35 air quality monitoring stations in western Taiwan Thursday were caused by a lack of wind, according to the Ministry of Environment (MOENV).

Because of the weather, pollutants built up to the point that the air became "unhealthy for all groups" in parts of Tainan, Yunlin and Chiayi, the ministry said.

As of 2 p.m. Thursday, the MOENV said air pollution was most severe in locations south of Taichung.

In addition, "orange alerts" -- indicating air that is unhealthy for sensitive groups -- were triggered at a further 38 monitoring stations, the ministry said.

Air quality in the western half of Taiwan is set to remain poor until Sunday when the currently prominent easterly winds gradually change to southeasterly winds, the ministry added.

However, the changing currents could bring pollution to areas north of central Taiwan on Monday and southern parts of the island on Tuesday, according to the ministry.

Meanwhile, the ministry said that poor air quality in the outlying counties of Kinmen and Lienchiang (Matsu) was due to pollution from southeastern China.