Published: 02:19 PM, 30 September 2023
Malaysia says Indonesia fires causing haze at unhealthy levels
Haze readings started to pick up gradually from 5am (local time) onwards. PHOTO: EPA-EFE Malaysia’s environment department said unhealthy Air Pollutant Index (API) readings in the country were linked to forest fires in Indonesia, as Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and Negeri Sembilan experienced haze on Friday.
The API in Kuala Lumpur recorded an average of 154.5, with Cheras being affected the worst at 155 and Batu Muda at 153. The API in Selangor showed an average API of 127.4, with Petaling Jaya affected the worst at 153 and Klang the least at 88.
The Meteorological Department considers unhealthy API levels to be between 101 and 200. Putrajaya recorded an API of 117, Taiping, Perak at 131 and Seberang Jaya, Penang at 110. Haze readings started to pick up gradually from 5am onwards.
The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) said the haze was caused by smoke plumes over Sumatra blown towards the northwest by prevailing winds.
“Under the prolonged dry weather, elevated hotspot activity and widespread hazy conditions are expected to persist over the fire-prone areas in southern and central Sumatra and southern Kalimantan. “The prevailing winds are forecast to blow mainly from the southeast,” it said.
Malaysia’s environment department echoed the Singapore-based ASMC’s assessment, that forest fires in southern Sumatra and Kalimantan were causing transboundary haze to affect the west coast of the Malay peninsula as well as eastern state Sarawak.
“Satellite imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration detected 52 hotspots in Sumatra, 264 hotspots in Kalimantan, and no hotspots detected within (Malaysia),” the department’s director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar said in a statement.
He said dry weather conditions are expected to continue in central and southern Sumatra as well as southern Kalimantan, with wind blowing the thick haze towards the north-west.
However, rainfall in several parts of western Kalimantan may help reduce hotspots and hazy conditions, he added. Indonesia and Malaysia have previously carried out “cloud-seeding”, using chemicals in a bid to induce rain to battle the fires.
>> Source: The Straits Times
The API in Kuala Lumpur recorded an average of 154.5, with Cheras being affected the worst at 155 and Batu Muda at 153. The API in Selangor showed an average API of 127.4, with Petaling Jaya affected the worst at 153 and Klang the least at 88.
The Meteorological Department considers unhealthy API levels to be between 101 and 200. Putrajaya recorded an API of 117, Taiping, Perak at 131 and Seberang Jaya, Penang at 110. Haze readings started to pick up gradually from 5am onwards.
The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) said the haze was caused by smoke plumes over Sumatra blown towards the northwest by prevailing winds.
“Under the prolonged dry weather, elevated hotspot activity and widespread hazy conditions are expected to persist over the fire-prone areas in southern and central Sumatra and southern Kalimantan. “The prevailing winds are forecast to blow mainly from the southeast,” it said.
Malaysia’s environment department echoed the Singapore-based ASMC’s assessment, that forest fires in southern Sumatra and Kalimantan were causing transboundary haze to affect the west coast of the Malay peninsula as well as eastern state Sarawak.
“Satellite imagery from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration detected 52 hotspots in Sumatra, 264 hotspots in Kalimantan, and no hotspots detected within (Malaysia),” the department’s director-general Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar said in a statement.
He said dry weather conditions are expected to continue in central and southern Sumatra as well as southern Kalimantan, with wind blowing the thick haze towards the north-west.
However, rainfall in several parts of western Kalimantan may help reduce hotspots and hazy conditions, he added. Indonesia and Malaysia have previously carried out “cloud-seeding”, using chemicals in a bid to induce rain to battle the fires.
>> Source: The Straits Times
