We've just had a bad case of the haze recently, and it was just awful. The air was so bad outside, we couldn't open the windows and I didn't let my son to go to school for four days straight. This recent bout of air pollution makes me glad that I bought an air purifier a few months back. At least, even with the windows closed, the air inside my home was cleaner.
View of the evening sky from a friend's apartment, before and during the haze.
For some time now, I've been reading about how the air indoors is actually worse than the air outside, and that there's such a thing as "negative ions," which are invisible to the eye, but are good for us. According to Ionic Balance, in nature, negative ions are generated by evaporating water, ocean surf and waterfalls. Since not all of us can live by the ocean or a waterfall, we need to use man-made ion generators to bring these good ions into our homes and offices.