End of South East Asian Smog in Sight, Experts Say
10/10/97
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Headline: End of South East Asian Smog in Sight, Experts Say
Source: Reuters
Date: 10/10/97
Author: Chris Johnson
Copyright: Reuters Limited 1997
SINGAPORE - Smog that has blotted out the sun across Southeast Asia for
almost two months is beginning to recede as monsoon rains arrive, experts
said on Thursday.
Scattered showers have already fallen on Singapore, parts of Malaysia and
northern Indonesia, bringing the first glimpses of blue sky to a region
blanketed by smoke pollution from Indonesian forest and bush fires.
Weather forecasters expect the air to clear from the north over the next
month, but say the rains will be intermittent for a while and the fires may
not be put out for some time.
"Fresh air is on the way," said Lim Tian Kuay, assistant director in charge
of operations at Singapore's Meteorological Service.
"This is the first spell of the monsoon. But it is only a spell. We don't
see full-blown rains until November."
The monsoon is switching the region's wind direction from its prevailing
track from Australasia to Northwest Asia to a more general southerly path
as colder air builds up for the northern hemisphere winter.
The annual wind change is normally obvious by early October but this year
the El Nino weather phenomenon, caused by warming of the Pacific Ocean off
South America, has extended the dry season and delayed the rains, experts
say.
This has encouraged the spread of wild forest fires on the islands of
Sumatra and Borneo, which Indonesian officials say were mostly set by land
clearance for plantations and farming but are now raging out of control in
many areas.
The fires have also spread to underground peat swamps, which officials say
are difficult to reach.
While the winds were heading north, Singapore, Sarawak, west Malaysia and
northern Sumatra were badly affected by the smog, pushing the air quality
to dangerous levels in some places.
But as the winds turn, the northern parts of the region are clearing and
many cities report much brighter weather.
The air quality has been "good" or "moderate" in Singapore for the last two
days and the Ministry of the Environment said on Thursday the Pollutants
Standard Index (PSI) was at 37 by 0400 GMT, one of its lowest level in
weeks.
A level of 50 or below is considered good. Between 51 and 100 is moderate,
while 101 to 200 is "unhealthy". Levels of 201 or above are considered
"very unhealthy" and above 301 "hazardous".
The pattern across Indonesia was similar with visibility beginning to clear
in northern and central Sumatra as the winds shifted but no signs of
improvement in southerly areas.
The main airport in Indonesia's Riau province, closed for most of September
by the smog, was open on Thursday with visibility reported at three km (two
miles) at 0200 GMT.
But at least four airports in central, western and southern Sumatra and in
Kalimantan were closed with visibility at Palangkaraya in central
Kalimantan down to just 150 metres (yards).
Kalimantan is the Indonesian half of Borneo.
In Jakarta, some athletes gathered for the 19th South East Asian Games
expressed concern about the smog and whether it will affect their
performances but the capital has not been badly affected.
"The winds are blowing in circles now in a transitional monsoon pattern,"
said Emmy Hafild, executive director of the Indonesian Forum for
Environment, an associate of the Friends of the Earth pressure group.
"Singapore, Malaysia and northern Sumatra are now clearing. But I don't
expect it to stay clear until all the fires are out," she said. "It would
take at least two weeks of heavy rain until the fires in the peat swamps
are out...and heavy rain hasn't started there yet."
Lim said the sky over Singapore was likely to stay hazy until around the
end of October but should gradually improve.
"In the next few days, it will still be a bit hazy, but definitely better
than over the last few weeks," he said.