Commenting on the El Nino climate phenomenon, SMU Associate Professor of Urban Climate Winston Chow said, “The odds of more extreme temperatures leading to heatwave conditions have been shortened because of El Nino. Maximum temperatures can exceed 35°C in Singapore, and El Nino will do us no favours in that.” Green spaces such as Bishan-Ang Mo Kio Park can be about 1.5°C lower than their neighbouring urban areas. Sometimes, these cooler temperatures can extend beyond the park boundaries, a Cooling Singapore 2.0 research project co-led by SMU research assistants Yik Sin Kang and Graces Ching found. Assoc Prof Chow however noted solutions are not always straightforward. As for haze, he acknowledged that a lot of preparation has been done by Indonesia and plantation companies to make sure that the fire risk is low but said the upcoming El Nino could put the preparedness to the test.