Toxic Haze From Indonesia Wildfires Spreads Across Southeast Asia
- Wildfires in Indonesia are pushing air quality to hazardous levels across Southeast Asian cities, with transboundary haze reaching the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei as the El Niño weather pattern peaks this month.
- The crisis stems from fires on fire-prone peatland exacerbated by El Niño; Indonesian environment authorities identified 42 companies with high-risk land concessions, and Police have arrested 72 people suspected of setting recent fires.
- Dante Saksono Harbuwono, Indonesia's deputy health minister, reported roughly 5.5 million people across Borneo and Sumatra have been exposed to smoke, with hospitalizations for respiratory infections topping 50,000 since the start of the year.
- Quezon City suspended in-person classes on Tuesday due to "unhealthy levels" of PM2.5 particulates, according to the Natural Resources Department , while Sarawak's deputy premier Douglas Uggah Embas warned any area exceeding 500 would face local emergency restrictions.
- Mark Parrington, a senior scientist, warned that if fire emissions continue increasing through September into October, smoke and air quality impacts could persist for several weeks across the region.
21 Articles
21 Articles
Saudi Gazette
AlKhaleej TodayToxic haze from Indonesia wildfires spreads across Southeast Asia
Indonesia is battling massive wildfires, with some of the blazes continuing to burn for weeks as toxic smoke spreads across the region. Smoke and haze from the Indonesian wildfires have also been reported across large swathes of Southeast Asia, including Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
The Independent
The Independent (US)Mapped: Indonesia’s wildfires spread toxic haze across Southeast Asia
Indonesian minister says ‘super El Nino’ conditions deepening drought and fuelling fires
Haze from wildfires and burning in Indonesia is being carried across borders by wind currents to Malaysia, the Philippines, and Brunei, resulting in dangerously high air quality levels in many cities.
Haze besieges Southeast Asia as Indonesia’s wildfires rage on - Asia & Pacific
On Wednesday morning, seven air monitoring stations across the metropolitan area of Philippine capital Manila recorded “unhealthy levels” of PM2.5 pollutant particulate, according to the country’s Environment and Natural Resources Department (DENR).
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