Alex's story

"you really can tell the difference in air in the city. It's fine out at KareKare (beach) but when I drive in to town the air is noticeably worse"

Lydia's story

"After growing up on a farm then coming to Auckland, I could certainly tell a difference. Surprisingly the difference wasn't as big as I expected, but still enough to notice.I found the air when breathing in is a lot heavier and dirtier than what I was used to. When moving to the big city, I first noticed the differences in air when going for a run one morning. I really found it a lot harder to exercise outside because of the air quality than it is back home. The thick, smokey air wasn't pleasant to gasp for when going for a run! The feel to was something I also noticed, especially when in the CBD. The air feels dense and with all the car fumes surrounding it makes it hard to stay in the city for a long period of time. I always find when coming back from the city, I'm in desperate need of a shower."

Jane's story

"When I moved back to NZ after living for 14 years in the UK, I initially found the Auckland air quality much cleaner than I had experienced in London. However, my daughter, aged 5, developed asthma after arriving in Auckland, she had never suffered from this condition before.

We then spent 6 years living in Waiheke Island. On returning to Auckland in 2008 I really noticed the poor air quality. Compared to Waiheke it felt heavy and dense, living close to the CBD made this more apparent. I especially noticed this when running or walking my lungs felt laboured and polluted with every breath.I was saddened to recently read that the figures in July reported that more than 700 Aucklanders die from air pollution every year."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/environment/5690388/Auckland-air-worse-than-Sydneys

Jonathan's story

"When I get off the train to get to work, it releases a huge cloud of diesel fumes. I can feel it in my lungs, hurting my system. There is also a childcare centre right next to the train station. The city council should be protecting us with their public transport systems, not killing us."

Wagma's story

"In comparison with overseas cities New Zealand air is clear and beautiful to breathe. Auckland has little population compared to these places, but for all that traffic emissions are increasing to higher levels and some days a haze clouds the atmosphere especially over the city. Luckily Auckland is exposed to high winds which leave it haze-free most of the time.

Occasionally the weather patterns trap fog low to the ground and this in turn traps car emissions from escaping into the atmosphere and is a bad look for a city which prides its self on a clean green image. In situations like this feelings tend to be giving rise to depression, sadness, and lethargy. The opposite is true of a beautiful sunshine day when spirits rise, songs flip off your lips and energy is there to burn.

The New Zealand Herald this week showed a picture of a young cyclist wearing a mask to prevent the poisonous gases penetrating his lungs. If he is a frequent traveller on city routes this would be of importance but to a casual visitor would not.
Auckland air has continued to deteriate and needs a clean air programme."

Nico's story

“As an international student from the Philippines, I was actually quite surprised by the sheer cleanliness of Auckland’s air. Compared to my home country, Auckland’s air feels lighter, colder, and fresher while my country’s air feels heavier, hotter, and staler. There are less visible dust particles in the air and, for reasons I can’t explain, it sometimes feels safe enough to take a deep breath even when beside a street like Queen St. I feel that the reason behind this is because New Zealand has more wind, which constantly brings in fresher air from the sea.

The first time I arrived in Auckland, I instantly noticed how clear the city was from my window seat on the plane. It was a good sunny day in Auckland and I still remember thinking to myself, “Wow, so clean!” I noticed that I get sick less often now then in the Philippines. This year alone, I’ve only gotten sick once.

People living in Auckland or New Zealand in general should be grateful that they are blessed with cleaner air that has less harmful effects on themselves and to the Earth.”

Stephanie's story

"I’ve lived in Auckland my whole life and to be honest was unaware of the brown smog cloud lingering over the city. I don’t have any breathing or health problems, but I have heard from a lot of people who have come to Auckland city from overseas or from other parts of New Zealand and have developed asthma or get sick of a cold more regularly. This may be due to the humidity, but I’m sure a lot of the trapped pollution beneath the clouds is to blame.

I notice the air at its worst when I’m sitting in or walking past traffic, the smell of dusty fumes is unbearable and I feel like it has some kind of harmful effect on my body, even in just those few minutes."

Tamara's story

"I have moved from an apartment on Upper Queen Street to suburban Auckland recently and the change in air quality is significant. I was constantly cleaning walls and windows to remove the thin film of grime that came in when the windows were open and now I have to remind myself to wash windows as used to be so much clearer. The combination of air and noise pollution in the city makes the atmosphere seem heavier, there is less light from all the high buildings and this contributes to a sense of weight in the air. I am not sure how much is my own perception through these other factors and how much is due to the air quality.

However, relative to other countries I have lived in Auckland’s overall air quality seems much better. I remember returning to Auckland as a teenager after living in South East Asia and the USA, it was early morning and it seemed like a small miracle to be able to see the silhouettes of buildings and trees in the distance clearly. The stars appeared brighter and more numerous and the place ‘felt’ cleaner. Los Angeles in particular had left me with a gritty sensation in my throat and a feeling of being coated in dirt particles even when I was inside."

Hoyle's story

"Generally, I have not found myself affected by Auckland’s poor air quality too often. Some areas are worse than others. My house is situated near two large areas of native bush so I find the air is pure and clean. However, there was an occasion where I experienced Auckland’s poor air quality when I was walking through the central city on a crisp, still morning recently. Traffic congestion was at its peak and with exposure to exhaust fumes, extractors from businesses and cigarette smoke creeping through the streets, it was enough to leave me feeling dizzy and nauseated. It has been said that up to 80% of our air pollution comes from vehicle emissions, better transport, less air pollution I say."

Emma's story

"I find Auckland’s air quality is dependent on location and environment. I have had mostly positive experiences of air and consider it to be clean and fresh majority of the time. I also view our air quality as ‘superior’ to other places and countries. My experiences in other countries have particularly helped cement my thoughts on Auckland's air, for example Bali, Singapore and London are a handful of places I have visited and enjoyed but have had lasting bad memories of the air. Not only did I find the air thick and a little heavy to inhale at times, it often smelt. I am particularly sensitive to smells and so this is something that does not go past me.

Times when I have felt Auckland’s air quality has been less than satisfactory is at the harbour downtown before embarking on a ferry. Having lived on Waiheke Island for 3 years, this is something that I encountered twice daily and always hated it. The air was heavily polluted, stinky and thick, there were also vapors visible to the naked eye from fuel. This is also a similar experience when I go to the airport. Having said that, after arriving back in the country, I always feel pleased to be home and feel lucky over all with our air quality."

Shelley's story: Bad Air not just Bad Housekeeping

"I don't normally notice anything negative about Auckland's air quality but I have noticed the grime on these venetian blinds in an office in Church Street, Onehunga. They are cleaned regularly but they get dirty very quickly.
Church Street is a four lane highway where 300,000 vehicles pass through a week. As Onehunga has a lot of light industry, there are a lot of trucks and heavy vehicles.

Seeing things like this makes you wonder about the levels of pollution you would be exposed to if you worked in this office and the effect it could have on your lungs and general health. Several of my friends have asthma (including the person who works in this office) and sometimes I have suspected dust mites and insufficient vacuuming but perhaps poor air quality is part of the reason for their respiratory difficulties."

September 28, Global report: Auckland's air quality worse than Sydney

In a recent World Health Organisation report on air quality, many New Zealanders were shocked to learn that Auckland’s air quality, measured as a particulate matter rating, was found to be 15pm compared to 12pm in Sydney, 13pm in Port Phillip Bay (Melbourne); cities with much larger populations. Around 20om is thought to be significantly dangerous.

To put these figures in an international perspective, New York rates at 25pm, London at 29pm, Dhaka in Bangledesh at 134 and Iran’s Ahwaz at 372pm. Globally, poor air quality is a major cause of loss of human an non-human life.

The “WHO estimates more than 2 million people die every year from breathing in tiny particles present in indoor and outdoor air pollution. PM10 particles, which are particles of 10 micrometers or less, which can penetrate into the lungs and may enter the bloodstream, can cause heart disease, lung cancer, asthma, and acute lower respiratory infections. The WHO air quality guidelines for PM10 is 20 micrograms per cubic metre (µg/m3) as an annual average, but the data released today shows that average PM10 in some cities has reached up to 300 µg/m3.”

(WHO, http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2011/air_pollution_20110926/en/index.html).

Deidre's story - (Sept 23)

"I am a regular walker, and fortunately live on the coast. I have wonderful views of the harbour and Waiheke Island on my walks. I would have to say that the air over these scenes is always clear. I guess it has a lot to do with the air movement over the ocean so any pollution is blown away.

When I am driving away from the coast I drive along an elevated stretch of road and often notice a brown haze hovering over the city and out across to the Waitakere Ranges. This is always on a clear and usually windless morning.

I do restrict my walking routes to paths off the main roads as I am acutely aware of the smells and sounds of the traffic as the cars drive by me. The smell of diesel and petrol makes me nauseous, so I avoid these smells as much as possible. The coastal cliff tops are the most pleasant for walking where I am unaware of either air or noise pollutants."

Foggy-haze: Sept 7th from JJ

"This is the most noticeably brown fog I have seen while riding my bike. Once the cloud and fog had lifted there was still a distinct layer of brown smog at 9:30am."

Haze and fog: Sept 6th 2011

Nick told me that this is a spring fog and early morning haze combination. The fog seems quite settled in front of the Waitakere ranges but also hazy over the city. Still 8 degrees (cold enough to hold the pollutants in) in the morning but getting much warmer later in the day -- 17 degrees today, haze season will be over soon.

Steve's story: September 6th 2011

(By Text) "Eww there's brown haze this morning. Got pics from the deck but a bit far away. Looks like its bad over North Western motorway." (from Mt Roskill)

JJ's story: Cycling haze September 5th 2011

"I noticed the haze in Auckland today as I rode around One Tree Hill so I took a photo on my phone. The haze is very faint unless you are looking for it. What is immediately obvious is the diesel smoke at ground level from Auckland buses. I hold my breath when I am behind them."

Stephani's story: Bus Cloud

"You can imagine the grunt a bus makes when it has stopped on a steep hill and needs to merge into the traffic again. A lot of black exhaust fumes whoosh out the back of them, quite often leaving people or cars in their wake.


Times this by two or three buses doing this at the same time at the same bus stop, a large amount of exhaust fumes are generated in one place. Quite often after being disappointed that it wasn't my bus that had arrived, looking downwards on Queen Street, I could quite often see a great big smokey cloud slowly wafting it's way down Queen Street."

Zune Lee's story

Zune Lee is visiting from Seoul in Korea as Artspace artist-in-Residence. He has made a media art game about air quality and weather and weather emotions called "Weather Pong'. Last night he said "Auckland is a very clean city compared to Seoul. There are huge differences in the quality of the air here compared to Korea."

Brown Fog-Haze over Penrose Aug 26, '11

From One Tree Hill, the smoking stacks collected in a shallow fog /brown haze this morning.

Sue's story (Manukau Harbour fog-haze, 26 August '11)

"I walk to work in Mt Albert. This week (Aug 22-26, 2011) the atmosphere seems really dirty and I have sinus problems. The air tastes like acid. It reminds me of when I was in New York last year. In New York they are very conscious about air quality because of the lack of it."

Friday August 19th '11, Gt South Road, Looking South

The clear, cold, still conditions for several days following the snow (!) in Auckland are potential conditions for a haze. I think I can see a light haze in this shot, but Nick Talbot thought the lack of humidity might be preventing a haze from forming.

Pete's story

"I live on Waiheke island and only commute occasionally to town. Auckland's air quality is definitely polluted compared to the island. I can remember seeing a brown wash of smog along the stretch of the Southern motorway from the ferry travelling towards the city in the early morning. But I think I recall this happening in Summer more often than Winter?"

Heavy Haze August 22 '11 from One Tree Hill

This is the most intense haze I have seen this Winter. Ironically my mum, myself and another friend all needed antibiotics today for upper respiratory tract infections.

A very heavy haze from Winter 2009

This is an example of a heavy brown haze, combined with fog on June 3, 2009 from the Auckland Council webcam.

Light 'Brown haze' August 10

From Mt Albert, looking South

Haze is more clearly visible when the sun is behind me for the photograph.

Causes of Brown Haze

Scientists believe that brown haze is caused by Nitrogen Dioxide and Particulate matter. But the key factors in causing Auckland's haze, both chemical and meteorological are currently a subject of research.

The 11,000 litres of air we breathe per day is the determining factory in many respiratory and cardiac illnesses in Auckland. There are approximately 15-30 days a year when pollutant levels in Auckland's air exceed our National Environmental standards.

Nick Talbot at NIWA is currently engaged in a research project to determine the weather conditions that cause 'brown haze' using air quality instruments. Detailed information and fact sheets about haze and air quality are available on the Auckland Council website.

http://www.arc.govt.nz/environment/air-quality/air-quality.cfm

Light 'Brown haze' August 4

From Khyber pass looking South.

Dense Haze, July 1, 2011

From Harbour bridge on-ramp, Takapuna

What does Auckland's air look and feel like? Share an image or description.

What does Auckland’s air feel like?
The aim of this blog is to build a picture of how Auckland's inhabitants perceive our air quality. Please describe in words your impressions of Auckland air quality; either how it looks or how it feels to 'breathe in'.

Haze's past?
What are your memories and impressions of Auckland's air quality?

What does Auckland's air look like? Share an image.
You are invited to post pictures of 'brown haze' from your local part of Auckland from any kind of camera or phone. Haze is often clearly viewed from the North Shore. Or post any kind of photo that describes our air quality.

Background
Environmental scientists, urban meteorologists and the Auckland Council are currently monitoring Auckland's 'brown haze' to understand both the human and atmospheric causes. But the city's inhabitants who live 'in' it can also help build up a profile of the haze.

With your permission, shared haze images or descriptions may be used in a media art exhibition produced in 2012.