JakartaPost-June 23, 2023
Southeast Asia is at a high risk of experiencing severe trans-boundary haze occurring in the second half of 2023, a Singaporean think tank has warned, citing upcoming dry spells and market pressure from agricultural commodities. With the onset of the hotter El Niño weather phenomenon, Singapore is on high alert as the annual dry season brings with it additional risks of land and forest fires developing in neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as the potential surge of haze and air pollution that comes with it. According to the 2023 Haze Outlook report released by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA), the region has received a red alert rating the likelihood that trans-boundary haze might occur this year. It was the first time the region has been given the highest rating since the report was launched in 2019 following the massive land and forest fires that raged across 1.6 million hectares of land in Indonesia and caused a four-month transnational air pollution crisis. “After three relatively haze-free blue-sky years, this year there is a real risk that fire and haze will return,” SIIA chairman Simon Tay told the press in an online briefing from Singapore on Wednesday. Responding to the haze report, the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry’s Natural Resources and Ecosystems Director Thomas Nifinluri said weather and climate analyses, including by the Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysical Agency (BMKG), had already anticipated the high risk of fires this year due to the dry weather phenomenon. In anticipation of the land and forest fire hazard due to El Niño and warmer Indian Ocean waters, the ministry was jointly planning to increase the intensity of land and aerial patrols with other government agencies. Read more at:
