The 2006 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution event caused by continuous, uncontrolled burning from slash-and-burn agriculture in Indonesia, which affected several countries in the Southeast Asian region and beyond, including Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, and as far away as Saipan; the effects of the haze may have even spread to South Korea. Local sources of industrial pollution also, inadvertently, contributed to increases in air toxicity (particularly in already-polluted areas); notably at-risk areas included communities close to textile factories, fertilizer plants, meat-packing plants, industrialised dairy farms, shipping ports, and oil refineries. Air quality was lower, overall, for residents of more densely populated cities. In the highly urban and industrialised Klang Valley of Malaysia, in particular, the surrounding elevated terrain acted as a natural retainer of polluted air, aggravating the situation as the haze set in.
There is also a link to El Niño. The haze was made worse than during previous occurrences by the El Niño-Southern Oscillation which delayed the year's monsoon season. Fires in Kalimantan produce great amounts of smoke, burn a long time and are difficult to extinguish because they are on peatland, and once lit the fires can burn for months and release gases that produce sulphuric acid.Ghosh, Arijit. 31 October 2006. Fires leave Indonesia's neighbours fuming – Business – Business – theage.com.au, Bloomberg via The Age. Retrieved 1 November 2006.
Air quality across the region appeared to improve in late October as heavy rainfall doused fires in Indonesia.
Countries affected Brunei Brunei, an independent sultanate that is surrounded by East Malaysia's Sarawak state on Borneo, had been affected by the haze from Kalimantan. Rains brought some relief, and on 8 October, the Pollutant Standards Index had dropped to 46, which is within the "good" range.Borneo Bulletin. 9 October 2006. "Call for joint Asean fund to combat haze menace" . Retrieved 13 October 2006. There was a brief spell of clear skies during the first week of Hari Raya, following a spell of rainy weather. But the haze returned on 31 October,Othman, Azlan. 1 November 2006. "Haze Returns To Brunei" , BruDirect.com. with the Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation recording a PSI of 49.Department of Environment, Parks and Recreation PSI reading . Retrieved 1 November 2006.Brunei Meteorological Office
Indonesia The fires originated mostly in Kalimantan, the Indonesian part of Borneo, and on Sumatra, where they are set by swidden agriculturists employed by agroforestry concerns to clear land to grow pulp woods or market crops ahead of the growing season. Satellite images taken over Borneo on 4 October revealed no less than 561 "hot spots" areas where fires had been set.
Officials in neighbouring countries accused Indonesian officials of doing nothing to stop the fires, though forestry ministry officials said they had firefighters “working” to douse the blazes on state-controlled land. However, they conceded that “most” of the fires were on private land.Agence France-Presse.6 October 2006. "Indonesia dousing fires causing haze: forestry official" (retrieved via Channel NewsAsia 9 October 2006). Indonesia planned to deploy its military to aid fire fighting effort.Bernama. Indonesia To Deploy Soldiers To Fight Forest Fires . 16 October 2006 To recruit more people to man the fire line, the government offered two days off for civil servants who volunteered for fire duty.Agence France-Presse. 17 October 2006. "Fight fires, get two days off work: Indonesia's anti-haze tactic" . But the country lacked adequate equipment for fighting forest fires, having aeroplanes that were far too small to carry enough water to douse the flames.Agence France-Presse. 17 October 2006."Rain brings reprieve to residents suffering from haze in South Sumatra" . In a bid to obtain bigger aircraft, the government leased two Beriev Be-200 aircraft from Russia, which are capable of skimming over water and taking on loads for sustained firefighting efforts. The planes, which were flown and maintained by Russian crew, began operations on 1 November.Russian planes to help Indonesia fight haze, Reuters, 31 October 2006.
The fires forced schools to close, delayed and cancelled airline flights, disrupted shipping, and forced Indonesians to don face masks. Cities affected include Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan and Pekanbaru, Riau.Agence France-Presse. 5 October 2006. Haze from Indonesia fires chokes region, spreads across Pacific (retrieved via Channel NewsAsia on 9 October 2006).Lack of funds an obstacle to halting cropland fires . Gulf Times. 9 October 2006. (retrieved on 9 October 2006). The haze was blamed for a Mandala Airlines flight from Balikpapan, the provincial capital of East Kalimantan, skidding off the runway upon landing at Tarakan on 3 October, when visibility was reported at around 400 metres.Agence France-Presse. 3 October 2006. "Passenger plane skids off runway amid thick haze in Indonesia" (retrieved via Channel NewsAsia on 9 October 2006). It has caused breathing problems for people in Riau and in Jambi Province.Jakarta Post. 9 October 2006. Haze increasing respiratory cases, doctors say. On 21 October 12 airlines cancelled domestic flights from Soekarno-Hatta International Airport due to smog at many destinations, including Jambi, Banjarmasin, Jayapura, Semarang, Surabaya, Bengkulu, Denpasar, Makassar, Pekanbaru and Padang.ANTARA. 21 October 2006. .
A 20 October report by Malaysian government news agency BERNAMA offered a first-hand account of the scene in Kalimantan: "The suffocating smell of smoke, sore throat and eyes got worse when this reporter and a photographer stepped foot in central Kalimantan, forcing them to put on face masks. Throughout the 200-kilometre journey from Banjarmasin to Palangkaraya, what could be seen of the forests on both sides of the road was a landscape of blackish soil with smoke still billowing from the ground in some areas and of withering trees and plants. The area was foggy and dusty as the air was filled with flying ashes and other particles."
Local villagers, the report said, appeared to be unconcerned with the smog, saying it was "normal". "If we do not burn the forest, where are we going to get our food from?" a villager said.Madian, Amrizan. 20 October 2006. "Haze creates regional human-environment crisis" , BERNAMA.
On the environmental front, fires destroyed 1 km2 of the Tesso Nilo National Park in Riau Province. At the Tanjung Puting National Park in Central Kalimantan, the haze adversely affected the orangutans.
Malaysia
The effects of the haze started in early July and affected the northern Malaysian states severely.The __earthinc. Of possible return of haze 4 July 2006. However, the haze had cleared substantially throughout Peninsular Malaysia from 29 August 2006 due to the arrival of the rainy season. The rain reduced the number of hotspots throughout Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula. On 30 August 2006, The Star reported that Kuala Lumpur would be free of haze during the Independence Day. In the late evening just before midnight on 31 August 2006, the visibility in the Klang Valley was recorded to be very good.
Unfortunately, the haze returned again in late September when Muslim Malaysians were experiencing Ramadan. This was partly due to a change of wind direction towards the southwest, partially caused by Typhoon Xangsane.Brunei Times. Filipino wind of change. 3 October 2006. The worst hit place was Kuching. The Sarawak state government had declared that schools would close if the API breaches the 300 mark.Bernama. Schools In Sarawak To Close If API Breaches 300 Level . 5 October 2006. The worst affected area in Peninsular Malaysia is Johor Bahru which recorded an API of 150 on 7 and 8 October. For now, many people are wearing masks to prevent themselves from inhaling excessive amounts of haze. On 7 October, visibility in parts of East Malaysia fell to 300 metres. On or about 9 October, the worst of the haze in Peninsular seemed to be in the state of Negeri Sembilan, where visibility in Sepang fell briefly to 500 metres and the API in Nilai reached 198, before the rain relieved the haze partially. Shortly thereafter changing winds caused conditions to improve rapidly. Sarawak has started cloud seeding attempts to try to encourage rainfall that will help relieve the haze. Each cloud seeding session costs at least RM50,000 (roughly US$14,000).The Star. Cloud-seeding proving costly for Sarawak. 16 October 2006. On 21 October, the winds has changed direction and started to blow the hazes away from Malaysia, and the following day, heavy rain has cleared the haze. Later on 26 October, the heavy rain returned again, and there were isolated showers in Klang Valley. The Star reported that the hazy days are soon coming to an end as the monsoon season is approaching.
Air pollution index
Daily average API readings in October 2006DateGeorge TownKuala LumpurMalacca TownJohor BahruKuantanKuching1382726505393228384648461123503857825212546082916678179568931036986163661101961088013678110194157100Unavailable86368124134139789631579866887810289084778472112670134947871122764170997180134979697172801463938589808115698590132987816627811011410861176097112129110681860106901248768195710084105757020578791128696321417582109667522377976956070233480739565662441767487615325474326554232263136374941332724283443523528284952574653292639606048493028424260515131245052725378
Daily average API readings in November 2006DateGeorge TownKuala LumpurMalacca TownJohor BahruKuantanKuching1325444594261231334553405033544285336534406037565060534553571407363456587047697374261724854834574663495294758416249511042513152484011314328493933122744324642381322342246433514333645585136
0–50 Good 51–100 Moderate 101–200 Unhealthy 201–300 Very unhealthy 301- Hazardous
Singapore While the haze largely spared Singapore with 24-hour Pollutant Standards Index readings within the "Good" range for 15 days in September and the rest in the "Moderate" range and no higher than a reading of 66, its harmful effects became more prevalent in October.
On 7 October 2006, the 3-hour PSI reading breached the 100 mark at 8 a.m. and entered unhealthy levels for the first time in the year, as winds from neighbouring Sumatra blew the haze to Singapore. At 10 a.m., it hit 130, the highest in three years, before subsiding to 80 at 4 p.m. and climbing rapidly to 150 at 9 p.m., the worst since 1997, before ending the day at 136, still in the unhealthy range.
Although the air quality was set to improve with the arrival of the Northeast monsoon rains in mid-October, southeasterly winds extended the hazy season. A mild El Niño effect delayed the starting of the showers to late October or early November, or even until the end of November. The prolonged haze could be attributed to the extended dry season, which put the rains on hold and affected wind patterns which brought the haze to Singapore. Intermittent showers could occur in the pre-monsoon period, but these would do little in increasing air quality. The unpredictable winds in the pre-monsoon period could bring haze from either Sumatra or Kalimantan.
Air quality remained in the moderate range for the next week until 14 October, when the 3-hour PSI readings gradually increased from 53 at 6 a.m. to peak at an unhealthy 116 at 10 p.m. This time, majority of the haze came from Kalimantan.
Similarly, on 15 October, the PSI readings increased from 69 at 6 a.m. to 98 at 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., 3 points short of reaching the unhealthy range. This eased to 82 by midnight. As winds remained southeasterly, haze from Kalimantan blew across the South China Sea to Singapore.