Friday, August 26, 2016

Singapore air quality worsens overnight as haze returns...

Southeast Asia is bracing itself for its annual, uncomfortable tryst with haze as raging fires at Indonesian plantations worsen pollution in the region.

On Friday, Singapore woke up to a deterioration in air quality overnight, as a thin cloak of haze hung over the city-state. The country's environment agency said that its 3-hour Pollution Standards Index hit the unhealthy level at 10am SIN.

Neighboring Malaysia had already been feeling the effects of the drifting smog since mid-August, local media reported.

The latest bout of pollution comes even as Indonesia steps up efforts against the 'slash-and-burn' technique of cutting down vegetation on a patch of land, then burning off the undergrowth to make space for new plantations.

The country has arrested 454 individuals in connection with forest fires so far this year, more than double the 196 arrests made in 2015, Reuters reported, citing police data released on Thursday. Full story...

Related posts:
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  2. Indonesian minister ticks off S'pore on haze...
  3. Singapore shuts schools, distributes free masks for haze...
  4. Malaysia, Singapore should "know themselves", says Indonesian minister...
  5. 'Hazardous' haze forces Malaysia to shut schools...
  6. Palm-oil giants dodge responsibility for toxic smog covering Singapore...
  7. Indonesian minister says Singapore "behaving like a small child" over haze...

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