Malaysia likely to be free of haze till June

hemananthani sivanandam The Star 11 Feb 14;

PETALING JAYA: Malaysia is likely to escape severe haze despite the detection of nearly 300 hotspots in Indonesia’s Sumatra, said the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD).

A hotspot is registered when there is intense heat over a sizeable area, which typically happens during land clearing by way of open burning.

Dr Hisham Mohd Anip, a Department spokesman, said haze from forest fires was not expected to spread to Malaysia based on predicted wind patterns.

However, MMD warned that the risk would be higher between June to August as winds would likely change directions.

“So far, we are still in the northeast monsoon season. Therefore, any haze or smoke from Indonesia will not come to us,” Hisham said on Tuesday.

Indonesia news agency Antara reported that the Terra and Aqua Satellite detected 297 hotspots in Sumatra on Tuesday morning, a significant increase from the 62 detected on Monday.

An analyst from the Pekanbaru Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) in Indonesia said the hotspots did not have anything to do with the eruption of Mount Sinabung in northern Sumatra.