 | This article relies largely or entirely on a single source .(August 2017) |
| Southeast Asian haze series |
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1990s 2000s 2010s |
The 2017 Southeast Asian Haze was a transnational haze crisis that started in late July, 2017. The Singaporean National Environment Agency said in June that the number of hotspots in Sumatra due to farmers using the "slash-and-burn" technique to clear land was 180. [1]
Southeast Asia, also spelt South East Asia and South-East Asia, and also known as Southeastern Asia or SEA, is the geographical southeastern subregion of Asia, consisting of the regions that are south of China, south-east of the Indian subcontinent and north-west of Australia. Southeast Asia is bordered to the north by East Asia, to the west by South Asia and the Bay of Bengal, to the east by Oceania and the Pacific Ocean, and to the south by Australia and the Indian Ocean. Apart from the British Indian Ocean Territory and two out of 26 atolls of Maldives in South Asia, Southeast Asia is the only other subregion of Asia that lies partly within the Southern Hemisphere. The majority of the subregion is still in the Northern Hemisphere. East Timor and the southern portion of Indonesia are the only parts that are south of the Equator.
The Strait of Malacca or Straits of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water, 580 mi (930 km) in length, between the Malay Peninsula and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. As the main shipping channel between the Indian and Pacific oceans, it is one of the most important shipping lanes in the world. It is named after the Malacca Sultanate that ruled over the archipelago between 1400 and 1511, the center of administration of which was located in the modern-day state of Malacca, Malaysia.
Haze is traditionally an atmospheric phenomenon in which dust, smoke, and other dry particulates obscure the clarity of the sky. The World Meteorological Organization manual of codes includes a classification of horizontal obscuration into categories of fog, ice fog, steam fog, mist, haze, smoke, volcanic ash, dust, sand, and snow. Sources for haze particles include farming, traffic, industry, and wildfires. Seen from afar and depending on the direction of view with respect to the Sun, haze may appear brownish or bluish, while mist tends to be bluish grey. Whereas haze often is thought of as a phenomenon of dry air, mist formation is a phenomenon of humid air. However, haze particles may act as condensation nuclei for the subsequent formation of mist droplets; such forms of haze are known as "wet haze."
The ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution is a legally binding environmental agreement signed in 2002 by the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations to reduce haze pollution in Southeast Asia. The Agreement recognises that transboundary haze pollution which result from land and/or forest fires should be mitigated through concerted national efforts and international co-operation.
The 1993 Southeast Asian Games, officially known as the 17th Southeast Asian Games, was a multi-sport event held in Singapore from 12 to 20 June 1993 with 29 sports featured in this edition. The games were opened by Wee Kim Wee, the President of Singapore. This was the third time Singapore hosted the games, after 1983 and 1973 competition. The final medal tally was led by Indonesia, followed by Thailand, the Philippines and host Singapore.
The 2006 Southeast Asian haze event was caused by continued uncontrolled burning from "slash and burn" cultivation in Indonesia, and affected several countries in the Southeast Asian region and beyond, such as Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, and as far as Saipan; the effects of the haze may have spread to South Korea. Local sources of pollution partly contributed to the increased toxicity, particularly in high-pollution areas such as ports, oil refineries, and dense urban areas. In the highly urbanised and industrialised Klang Valley of Malaysia in particular, the surrounding terrain acted as a natural retainer of polluted air, aggravating the situation when the haze set in.
The Pollutant Standards Index, or PSI, is a type of air quality index, which is a number used to indicate the level of pollutants in air.
The 1997 Southeast Asian haze was a large-scale air quality disaster that occurred during the second half of 1997, its after-effects causing widespread atmospheric visibility and health problems within Southeast Asia. The total costs of the Southeast Asian haze are estimated at US$9 billion, due mainly to health care and disruption of air travel and business activities.
The Southeast Asian haze is a fire-related large-scale air pollution problem that occurs regularly. Generally, it is worst between July and October. These haze events have caused adverse health and economic impact on Brunei Darussalam, in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and, to a lesser degree, the Philippines and Thailand. The problem flares up every dry season, in varying degrees. Transboundary haze in Southeast Asia has been recorded since 1972.
The 1997 group of forest fires in Indonesia that lasted well into 1998 were probably among the two or three, if not the largest, forest fires group in the last two centuries of recorded history.
The 2009 Southeast Asian haze was an episode of large scale air pollution primarily caused by slash and burn practices used to clear land for agricultural purposes in Sumatra, Indonesia. It affected the areas surrounding the Straits of Malacca which besides Indonesia include Malaysia and Singapore.
Air pollution has been an ongoing problem in many countries in the Southeast Asia region, and Malaysia is one of the worst affected. The main cause of this haze is the slash and burn practice by farmers and peat fires blown by the wind from Indonesia. especially Sumatra, which mainly affects the Peninsular Malaysia and Kalimantan, which mainly affects East Malaysia. A state of emergency was announced once in 2005 at Port Klang as the Air Pollution Index (API) went above the 500 level. Malaysia is working with the Indonesian authorities to help curb peat fires. Malaysia and Indonesia, together with other members of the ASEAN community, signed the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution in 2002 as a result of a 1997 haze. However, Indonesia is the only country that has not signed the agreement. A repeat incident in 2005 and 2006 has forced Malaysia and Singapore to pressure Indonesia to sign it.
Indonesia and Singapore established diplomatic relations ) on 7 September 1967, a month after the formation of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) on 8 August 1967. Indonesia and Singapore are two of the five founding members of ASEAN. Both nations are also members of the Non-Aligned Movement and APEC.
The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was a haze crisis that affected several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Southern Thailand, mainly during June and July 2013. The haze period was caused by large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra and Borneo. Satellite imagery from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites showed that the haze was mainly due to smoke from fires burning in Riau province, Indonesia.
The 2015 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis affecting several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.
Golden-Agri Resources (GAR) is a Singaporean palm oil company, listed on the Singapore Stock Exchange since 1999. In May 2015, its market capitalization was $4.1 billion. Franky Widjaja, of the Sinar Mas family is its CEO. Alnoor is a subsidiary of GAR. Lew Syn Pau used to serve as a member of the Singaporean Parliament for 13 years and is a member of the board of directors of the firm. According to Greenpeace, GAR has six concessions on peatlands in Riau, with an estimated total area of 20,000 hectares. GAR was reported to have 1,880 hectares of peat in Central Kalimantan and 1,330 hectares in West Kalimantan, while claiming a zero-deforestation footprint. Greenpeace also discovered 322 hotspots on five to GAR's concessions in Central Kalimantan. GAR denied these accusations and said to have a zero-burning policy since 1997. Interviews with senior officers revealed evidence to the contrary. In about 2010, companies such as Burger King, Unilever and Nestlé cancelled their supplier contracts with Singapore-listed GAR subsidiaries due to unsustainable farming practices. Golden owns a subsidiary in Liberia called Golden Veroleum, which in 2018 was removed from the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil for alleged land acquisition violations.
The 2016 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis which affected several countries in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
People's Movement to Stop Haze (PM.Haze) is a non-governmental organisation based in Singapore. It was founded in 2014 in response to the 2013 Southeast Asian haze, which has been recognised as one of the most serious haze episodes in over 16 years. PM.Haze started its work with an investigative research project to fire-prone areas in Riau Province, Indonesia and identified peatland degradation due to mismanagement of concession lands by irresponsible companies as the fundamental cause of the fires in the areas and the resulting transboundary haze pollution. In 2016, it became registered as a society. In 2017, it underwent a rebranding exercise and adopted a new logo to symbolise a constant flow for fresh, clean air with an arrow pointed upward to represent constructive action towards this. PM.Haze was mentioned by Minister for the Environment and Water Resources Masagos Zulkifli as he delivered Singapore's national statement at the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi in December 2017.
The 2010 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis which affected many Southeast Asia countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore during the month of October in 2010.
A trans-national air pollution crisis affected several countries in Southeast Asia from February to September 2019, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.
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