Carbon from Indonesia fires exceeds US emissions: Green groups

The World Resources Institute, using findings from the Global Fire Emissions Database, said in a recent report that since early September carbon emissions from the fires had exceeded average US daily output on 26 out of 44 days.
Channel NewsAsia 21 Oct 15;

JAKARTA: Indonesian forest and agricultural fires cloaking Southeast Asia in acrid haze are spewing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each day than all US economic activity, according to an environmental watchdog.

The shock assessment came as Jakarta said the number of blazes was increasing across the archipelago despite a multinational fire-fighting effort, and announced plans to deploy more water-bombing aircraft.

For nearly two months, thousands of fires caused by slash-and-burn farming have suffocated vast expanses of the region with smog, causing respiratory illnesses to soar, schools to close, and scores of flights and some international events to be cancelled.

Much of the burning is in tropical peatlands rich in carbon but which are being drained and cleared at a rapid rate to make way for agriculture, particularly fast-expanding palm oil plantations.

The World Resources Institute said in a recent report that since early September carbon emissions from the fires had exceeded average US daily output on 26 out of 44 days.

The United States is the world's second-largest greenhouse gas source after China. The WRI, a US-based research organisation that focuses on environment and development issues, normally classifies Indonesia as the fifth-biggest emitter.

"The burning of tropical peatlands is so significant for greenhouse gas emissions because these areas store some of the highest quantities of carbon on Earth, accumulated over thousands of years," said the WRI.

"Draining and burning these lands for agricultural expansion, such as conversion to oil palm or pulpwood plantations, leads to huge spikes in greenhouse gas emissions."

In its report, the WRI used findings from the Global Fire Emissions Database, which uses satellite information to estimate emissions from blazes.

The smog crisis is escalating as world leaders gear up for talks beginning next month on a climate rescue pact, which will seek to limit global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-Industrial Revolution levels.

FIRES SPREADING

The fires and resulting region-wide blanket of smoke occur to varying degrees each year during the dry season as land is illegally cleared by burning, regularly angering Indonesia's smog-hit neighbours Malaysia and Singapore.

Malaysia, which in recent weeks has repeatedly ordered school closures across several states as a health precaution, did so again on Wednesday for the third straight day as pollution levels climbed.

The landmark twin towers in the capital Kuala Lumpur were shrouded in dense, grey smog, with air quality in the "very unhealthy" or "unhealthy" range across much of the country. In Singapore, air quality was in the "unhealthy" range.

Popular Thai holiday islands have also been affected with the haze forcing several planes packed with beach-bound tourists to turn back earlier this month.

While the loudest complaints have come from leaders in relatively affluent Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, it is poor Indonesian villagers who are suffering most.

One of the worst-hit areas, Palangkaraya, on Borneo, has been engulfed in thick, yellow haze, which has drastically reduced visibility and pushed air quality to more than six times "hazardous" levels.

Experts warn the current outbreak is on track to become the worst ever, exacerbated by bone-dry conditions caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

The fires on the huge islands of Sumatra and Borneo are typically only brought under control by November with the onset of the rainy season.

But Herry Purnomo, a scientist at the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research, told AFP this week that climatology data indicated the rainy season may be delayed this year and that the fires could last until year-end.

Indonesia earlier this month agreed to accept international help after failing for weeks to douse the fires and last week launched its biggest fire-fighting push yet, with dozens of planes backing up thousands of personnel on the ground.

But the national disaster agency said the number of "hotspots" - areas detected by satellite which are already ablaze, or ripe to go up in flames - had risen to more than 3,200 and spread to the eastern Papua region, which is usually largely unaffected by fires.

Authorities hope to deploy a further 10 to 15 water-bombing planes, which will join about 30 aircraft already fighting the blazes. Singaporean and Malaysian aircraft have taken part in the operations, while two Russian planes arrived Wednesday to provide assistance.

- AFP/rw/ec


Indonesia's carbon emissions set to cross 2006 crisis level
David Fogarty, The Straits Times/ANN Jakarta Globe 22 oct 15;

Emissions from forest and land fires in Indonesia have rocketed in the past two weeks and will today surpass the total emissions for the 2006 fire crisis, the country's second-worst on record, according to an analysis of Nasa satellite data.

Fires have raged across large parts of Indonesia, particularly Sumatra and Kalimantan, for the past two months. Over the past two weeks, total emissions have soared from nearly one billion tonnes to nearly 1.4 billion tonnes.

The Washington-based World Resources Institute (WRI), using findings from the Global Fire Emissions Database (GFED), said in a recent report that since early last month, carbon emissions from the fires had exceeded average United States daily output on 26 out of 44 days. The US is the world's No. 2 carbon polluter after China.

Much of the burning is in peatlands rich in carbon but which are being drained and cleared for agriculture, particularly oil palm and pulpwood plantations.

Very few fire episodes globally, except Indonesia's 1997 fire crisis and massive fires in the Amazon early last decade, compared to what is occurring now, said Dr Guido van der Werf of the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences at Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.

"This is a different magnitude," he said. Dr van der Werf analyses daily hot spot data from National Aeronautics and Space Administration satellites and is a specialist in estimating greenhouse gas emissions from fires. He has been running daily analyses on the blazes in Indonesia for the GFED.

Along with emissions, the number of fires has soared as well, with Dr van der Werf's team recording more than 108,000 since the start of this year. His analysis for yesterday showed total emissions to be just a fraction under the 2006 total and expected the number to easily exceed 2006 levels by today.

With no rains expected until year end, Indonesia is rapidly closing in on the emissions record set in 1997, when haze produced by its worst forest fires blanketed large parts of South-east Asia.

Experts warn that the current outbreak is on track to become the worst ever, exacerbated by bone- dry conditions caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon. That could hurt Indonesia's climate emissions reduction pledge for a major United Nations climate conference in Paris in December. Carbon dioxide is the main greenhouse gas blamed for driving climate change.

"The burning of tropical peatlands is so significant for greenhouse gas emissions because these areas store some of the highest quantities of carbon on earth, accumulated over thousands of years," WRI said.

Dr Herry Purnomo, a scientist at the Indonesia-based Centre for International Forestry Research (Cifor), told Agence France-Presse this week that climatology data indicated the rainy season may be delayed and that the fires could last until year end. Yesterday, a Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency official also predicted the rainy season, which normally starts in November, would be delayed until December, Tempo.co reported.

The fires could also be producing more emissions than estimated.

"My guess is what we are going to see out here is much higher emissions than from your average fires," Dr Louis Verchot, Cifor's director of forests and environment, told The Straits Times last week.

Global NGO Wetlands International, in a position paper yesterday, urged Indonesia to adopt better peatland management practices. It also said Indonesia needed to develop a national peatland conservation and restoration strategy.

It recommended that Indonesia restore and conserve unused peatland, stop further drainage, block existing drainage canals and phase out drainage-based plantations, among other measures. (k)


Fires in Southeast Asia may be emitting more greenhouse gases than the entire U.S.
JONATHAN KAIMAN Los Angeles Times 21 Oct 15;

A toxic haze has repeatedly wafted over huge swaths of Southeast Asia in the last month, causing school closures, grounded flights, canceled events and widespread concern about public health risks across the region. Here’s what you need to know about the Great Haze of 2015.

Nearly 100,000 fires are burning, setting up what looks to be the worst fire year in the region since 2006. The carbon emissions from the blazes have now surpassed those of the entire United States — the world’s second-largest emitter of greenhouse gases — on 26 out of 44 days since September, according to a report by the World Resources Institute.

That’s because about half the fires are in peatland areas — concentrated mainly in South Sumatra, South and Central Kalimantan, and Papua — that are among Earth’s biggest carbon storehouses.

Compared with ordinary fires, peat fires can emit up to 10 times more methane, a greenhouse gas whose impact on climate change is 25 times more potent than carbon dioxide, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The immediate effects on health are even more worrying.

What’s going on?
Every dry season, parts of Indonesia’s Sumatra, Kalimantan and Papua areas are reduced to smoking, burned-out landscapes, as palm oil and paper-and-pulp plantation farmers burn forests to cheaply clear agricultural land.

The upshot is a whole lot of smoke — enough to create a billowy haze which, since late September, has engulfed swaths of Indonesia, Brunei, Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.

On Monday night, in parts of Singapore, one of the world’s most fastidious cities, readings of PM2.5 — particulate matter small enough to enter the bloodstream — soared to 471, shrouding the city in a deep grey smog that called to mind industrial centers like Beijing.

How bad is it, really?
It’s bad. Aside from posing a clear public health hazard — the World Health Organization estimated last May that 7 million deaths a year were linked to air pollution — the haze has put a major damper on the daily lives of millions.

Singapore canceled the 2015 FINA Swimming World Cup, and Malaysia canceled the Kuala Lumpur marathon. As monsoon winds blew the haze northeast from Indonesia, officials on the Philippine island of Cebu grounded flights due to low visibility.

The Malaysian government has advised asthma sufferers to remain indoors and ordered temporary school closures across four states and in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. In early September, an Indonesian government ministry declared a state of emergency across six provinces. Some of the country’s pharmacies have started selling bottled oxygen.

Has this happened before?
The haze has been a periodic event since the 1970s. Yet this year, a particularly dry autumn in Indonesia, brought on by the El Nino weather event, has made the haze one of the worst on record — about as bad as in 2006, when NASA satellite images showed the smoky clouds extending all the way to South Korea.

What is this doing to the environment?
Nearly 100,000 fires have been detected in Indonesia this year, according to Guido van der Werf, an expert on wildfire emissions at VU University Amsterdam. More than half of the fires have occurred on carbon-packed peatland — land covered in dense layers of decayed organic matter, which produces thick, acrid smoke when it burns.

Together, they’ve generated an estimated 600 million tons of greenhouse gases, he wrote on the Global Fire Emissions Database — about as much as Germany emits in a year.

What are countries doing about it?
Indonesia has deployed 14 helicopters to douse flames in Sumatra and Kalimantan, and has begun encouraging plantations to adopt more environmentally friendly agricultural techniques on peatlands.

Early this month, the country’s government — after repeatedly insisting that it could take care of the fires on its own — agreed to accept offers of personnel and equipment from Singapore, Malaysia, Russia and Japan to help douse the infernos. Singapore is also doing its bit: this year, the country began allowing legislators to prosecute companies — both local and foreign — that are involved in causing the fires.

"We have done the best we can,” the head of Indonesia's disaster agency, Willem Rampangilei, told reporters in early October. "It is understandable if other countries are upset, but we Indonesians are more upset."

And yet...
However, the Indonesian government has come under fire for not doing more to put the problem to rest.

In late September, about 150 protesters from 10 student and nonprofit groups gathered in Palangka Raya, in Central Kalimantan province, to protest what they described as official inaction. “We want disaster management teams to be prepared in advance in order to safeguard people’s health,” Ali Wardana, one of the protest leaders, told the Singaporean broadcaster ChannelNewsAsia. “And we want sanctions against those who burn the land for profit.”


South-East Asian haze strikes the Pacific as fires exceed greenhouse gas output of the US
ABC News 21 Oct 15;

Indonesian forest and agricultural fires cloaking South-East Asia in acrid haze are spewing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere each day than all United States economic activity, according to an environmental watchdog.

The shock assessment came as Jakarta said the number of blazes was increasing across the archipelago despite a multinational firefighting effort, and announced plans to deploy more water-bombing aircraft.

The haze, which has sent air quality levels up to "very unhealthy" levels in neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore, is now affecting the Pacific nations of Guam, Palau and the Northern Marianas.

Guam's Office of Homeland Security and Civil Defence spokesperson Jenna Gaminde has warned the public to expect the haze to reduce visibility and adversely affect those with respiratory issues.

Western Melanesia is currently susceptible to winds from typhoons Koppu and Champi pulling smoke plumes from vast fires in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.

For nearly two months, thousands of fires caused by slash-and-burn farming have suffocated vast expanses of the region with smog, causing respiratory illnesses to soar, schools to close, and scores of flights and some international events to be cancelled.


The World Resources Institute (WRI) said in a recent report that since early September, carbon emissions from the fires had exceeded average US daily output on 26 out of 44 days.

The US is the world's second-largest greenhouse gas source after China. The WRI normally classifies Indonesia as the fifth-largest emitter.

"The burning of tropical peatlands is so significant for greenhouse gas emissions because these areas store some of the highest quantities of carbon on Earth, accumulated over thousands of years," the WRI, which used findings from the Global Fire Emissions Database for the report, said.

Much of the burning is in peatlands, drained and cleared by farmers illegally, and at a rapid rate, to make way for agriculture and in particular fast-expanding palm oil plantations.

Borders no barrier to haze

Malaysia, which in recent weeks has repeatedly ordered school closures across several states as a health precaution, did so again on Wednesday for the third straight day as pollution levels climbed.

Air quality was in the "very unhealthy" range near the capital Kuala Lumpur, under the government's rating system, with much of the rest of the country experiencing "unhealthy" air.

In Singapore, air quality was also in the "unhealthy" range.

What's behind the haze?

Find out what is behind the choking smoke covering Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Popular Thai holiday islands have also been affected, forcing several planes packed with beach-bound tourists to turn back earlier this month.

Experts warn the current outbreak is on track to become the worst ever, exacerbated by bone-dry conditions caused by the El Nino weather phenomenon.

The fires on the huge islands of Sumatra and Borneo are typically only brought under control by November with the onset of the rainy season.

But Herry Purnomo, a scientist at the Indonesia-based Centre for International Forestry Research, said that climatology data indicated the rainy season may be delayed this year and that the fires could last until year's end.

As well as on Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo, a substantial number had been detected in the easternmost region of Papua, the agency said. Papua is not typically affected by widespread outbreaks of agricultural fires.

Australian firefighters assist in 'mammoth size' battle

At a cabinet meeting late on Tuesday, the Indonesian government decided it needed another 10 to 15 water-bombing planes which it planned to rent from international allies, agency spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said.

About 30 planes are currently involved in water-bombing and artificially inducing rain, with Singaporean, Australian and Malaysian aircraft having taken part.

Two Russian planes also arrived on Wednesday to provide assistance.

Superintendent Ben Millington of New South Wales' Rural Fire Service recently returned from a seven-day deployment in Sumatra, and he reported that "the fires aren't expected to be put out any time soon".

"The task ahead is one of a mammoth size," he told the ABC's The World program.

"On Monday alone there was 236 fires or hotspots burning on the island of Sumatra alone."

But with Indonesia experiencing a prolonged dry season with no rain in sight, manned efforts to put out the fires remain hindered.

Mr Millington added that Australia is to remain in ongoing discussions with Indonesian authorities, but "until they experience their traditional wet season those fires will most likely continue to burn".

Read more!

Thailand: Haze at ‘unsafe levels’ in 4 provinces

Today Online 22 Oct 15;

BANGKOK — The levels of particulate matter from Indonesia’s forest fires in Thailand’s southern provinces of Songkhla, Satun, Yala and Pattani have soared above safety levels, environmental authorities said yesterday (Oct 21).

Residents in all areas were advised to continually monitor the haze situation and wear face masks outside the home at all times.

The particulate matter (PM10) reading in the four provinces was measured on a rolling 24-hour average until 6pm, the Pollution Control Department said.

Songkhla was the hardest hit with the particulate matter reading at 267 microgrammes per cubic metre, far above the safety level of 120 and up from 185 at 7am, followed by Satun at 165, Yala at 153 and Pattani at 139.

Mr Halem Chemarikan, director of the 16th Regional Environment Office, said the levels of tiny dust particles in the South showed an increase based on the results monitored every three hours. The situation in the four provinces needed to be closely watched 24 hours a day as indications are that the situation will worsen.

The situation could last from one day to 25 days, while more rain would help to disperse the haze.

He said the haze was lingering because rainfalls were relatively scattered and winds were light. Yesterday, there was low to moderate rainfall.

Street lights in Songkhla’s Hat Yai district and Satun town were turned on through the daytime as the thick haze blocked out the sunlight. Airports and flights in the South were operating normally, but small fishing boats could not go out to sea at night due to poor visibility.

Mr Halem advised children, the elderly and those with respiratory conditions to stay at home. People should avoid areas of thick haze, refrain from doing outdoor exercise and wear a face mask at all times when outdoor.

The public was urged to drink more water, refrain from activities that create smoke and closely follow official announcements. BANGKOK POST


Haze in southern Thailand worsens
The Nation/ANN AsiaOne 22 Oct 15;

As of 3pm yesterday, the PM-10 level in Songkhla's Hat Yai district stood at 361mcg per cubic metre.

Environment Region 16 Office director Halem Jehmarikan said that PM10 levels in Songkhla, Yala, Satun and Pattani provinces yesterday afternoon stood at 235, 150, 192 and 155mcg respectively. The level of dust in the air during normal periods stands at below 50mcg.

The Pollution Control Department said its office in Songkhla would monitor the situation closely and that people could follow updates via www.air4thai.pcd.go.th or the "Air4Thai" app. They will also inform the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta and the Indonesian government about the smog impact in Thailand and call for Indonesia to tackle the problem urgently, the department said.

Visibility at Muang Yala Municipality was under 100 metres yesterday and people were prompted to wear facemasks.

Read more!

Philippines: Haze forces PAL, CebPac to cancel flights to and from Cotabato City

Philippine News Agency 22 Oct 15;

COTABATO CITY, Philippines -- Philippine Airlines and Cebu Pacific flights between Manila and Cotabato City have been since October 17 because of the haze, from forest fires in Indonesia, which has plagued many Mindanao cities, the local Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines office said.

However, CAAP-Cotabato said flights may resume at the Cotabato airport in Awang, Sultan Kudarat town should skies clear Thursday.

Roy Jumawan, Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration-Cotabato weather specialist, said the haze -- from Borneo, Sumatra and Kalimantan -- has been blown over Southern and Central Mindanao by southern airstreams.

Typhoon “Lando,” which struck the country over the weekend, also contributed to bringing the haze to Mindanao.

The haze has also been affecting Brunei and Malaysia.

A staff of the Cebu Pacific-Cotabato ticketing office said they are not issuing tickets until flights resume.


Indonesia haze reaches Cagayan de Oro
ABS-CBNnews.com 21 Oct 15;

MANILA - The spreading haze from Indonesia has now reached the city of Cagayan de Oro.

According to state weather bureau PAGASA, the southwest monsoon enhanced by typhoon "Lando" (international name: Koppu) pushed the air from the neighboring country to the city in Mindanao.

Local health officials have urged residents to use face masks when going out as the forest fire smoke poses health risks.

The haze is expected to dissipate once Lando leaves the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR).


Indonesia's haze reaches Zamboanga City
RJ Rosalado, ABS-CBN News Zamboanga 21 Oct 15;

ZAMBOANGA - Zamboanga City has also been affected by the haze from the ongoing forest fires in Indonesia in the past three or four days, according to state weather bureau PAGASA.

PAGASA weather observer Allan Gelani said the thick haze has caused a drop in temperature in the city, but he said this will not affect operations and the navigational routes of aircraft and seacraft.

Zamboanga City health officer Dr. Rodel Agbulos said the haze may cause respiratory illnesses, particularly to residents who have asthma and allergy as well as those living in areas high above sea level.

But Agbulos said they have yet to monitor residents complaining of respiratory illnesses caused by the haze.

The Environmental Management Bureau, meanwhile, said there is no reason for the public to worry.

Joselito Ventura, chief of the the bureau's ambient monitoring section, said based on their monthly monitoring, the air quality in Zamboanga City is still within the Department of Environment and Natural Resources' (DENR) emission standard.

According to Ventura, the emission standard of DENR is 150 micrograms per normal cubic meter.

In the three areas that they have monitored, the particulate matter average concentration has not reached more than 64 micrograms per normal cubic meter, which means that the air quality in the city is still not polluted.

Ventura said residents should not be worried about the thick haze above the city.

Aside from Zamboanga City, PAGASA said the thick haze has also reached Cagayan de Oro and Davao City.

Read more!

Cuba launches initiative to protect sharks

Daniel Trotta PlanetArk 22 Oct 15;

Cuba on Wednesday launched an initiative to protect sharks in some of the most pristine habitat for the predators whose populations have been in steep decline.

The action plan, reached through two years of collaborative research with the New York-based Environmental Defense Fund (EDF), will impose size and capture limits on fishermen, set aside protected areas and create closed seasons for shark-fishing, officials said.

The Cuban government has recognized its special place in the world of sharks as scientists believe nearly 100 of the world's 500 shark species swim in Cuban waters, sustained by a relatively healthy coral reefs, the EDF says.

Protecting shark populations also makes business sense for the fishing and tourism industries. Scuba divers travel from around the world to swim with Cuba's sharks.

"Cuba is considered the crown jewel of the Caribbean, principally because of its incredible coral reef ecosystems, its mangroves, its sea grasses," said Daniel Whittle, EDF's Cuba program director. "Healthy sharks mean healthy corals. Healthy corals mean healthy sharks."

Cubans fish sharks for their meat, and more aggressive overfishing and environmental degradation elsewhere in the Caribbean have taken their toll, which is why conservation needs to be international, Whittle said.

The EDF last year put an electronic tag on one longfin mako shark off Cuba that swam some 6,000 miles (10,000 km) over five months, reaching the coast of New Jersey, Whittle said.

Cuba already has protective measures such as banning "finning," the harvesting of sharks only for their fins.

The new action plan "will empower scientists in Cuba ... who will work directly with fishermen. That information will be used by managers to develop new closed areas that sharks need for nurseries, management measures to protect juveniles, rebuild populations and help sustain them," Whittle said.

The plan builds on research developed by Cuban scientists who have been working with fishermen for the past five years to understand which species are most vulnerable.

"Getting fishermen involved in collecting data has been critical," Jorge Angulo, senior scientist with Cuba's Center for Marine Research, said in an EDF statement.

(Editing by Alan Crosby)

Read more!

Sunscreen chemical imperils coral reefs around the globe

AFP Yahoo News 21 Oct 15;

Miami (AFP) - Sunscreen contains a chemical that scientists believe is causing massive damage to coral reefs worldwide and threatens their very existence, researchers warn.

Oxybenzone -- also known as BP-3 or Benzophenone-3 -- is found in more than 3,500 sunscreen products worldwide, said the study in the latest edition of the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.

The chemical gets into the water via swimmers and wastewater from coastal septic systems.

Global scientists announced earlier this month that a massive global coral bleaching event is already under way, made worse in some parts of the world by warming waters brought on by El Nino.

Coral reefs have been in decline for decades, and face multiple threats including pollution, climate change, storms and disease.

Oxybenzone, which blocks ultraviolet rays, causes "gross deformities" in baby coral, "damages their DNA, and, most alarmingly, acts as an endocrine disruptor," said the study.

The effect is forcing "the coral to encase itself in its own skeleton, leading to death."

Even more worrying, scientists observed the harmful effects of the chemical even when it was highly diluted -- as low as 62 parts per trillion, or the same as "a drop of water in six and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools," the study found.

Far higher concentrations of oxybenzone were measured near coral reefs in Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands -- ranging from 800 parts per trillion to 1.4 parts per million.

"This is over 12 times higher than the concentrations necessary to impact on coral," the study said.

Researchers estimate that between 6,000 and 14,000 tons of sunscreen lotion are emitted into coral reef areas each year.

Oxybenzone makes up between one and 10 percent of those lotions.

Since not all reefs are located near tourist areas, scientists believe that about 10 percent of global reefs are at high risk of exposure to sunscreen lotion damage.

The study was led by marine scientists from Virginia, Florida, Israel, the US National Aquarium and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

"The use of oxybenzone-containing products needs to be seriously deliberated in islands and areas where coral-reef conservation is a critical issue," said lead author Craig Downs of the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory in Virginia.

"Everyone wants to build coral nurseries for reef restoration, but this will achieve little if the factors that originally killed off the reef remain or intensify in the environment."

Oxybenzone is not only found in sunscreens, but also lipstick, mascara and shampoo.

The European Union's International Chemical Secretariat has already established it as a threat to human health and called for it to be replaced with another, safer ingredient.

Read more!

Paris climate pledges 'will slow energy emissions'

World energy watchdog says commitments would result in rapid slowdown in growth of carbon from energy sector if followed through
Fiona Harvey The Guardian 21 Oct 15;

Pledges on greenhouse gas emissions made by governments ahead of landmark climate talks this December will result in a rapid and dramatic slowdown in the growth of carbon from the energy sector - but will not reverse that growth within the next 15 years, the world’s energy watchdog said on Wednesday.

The International Energy Agency (IEA), regarded as the gold standard on energy data, found that the pledges would result in an increase of 3.7 gigatonnes (Gt) of carbon dioxide from 2014 to 2030, which is only one-third of the increase in energy emissions seen in the last 15 years.

Gas use will rise, while coal and oil decline, the agency predicts. By 2030, the annual growth in energy-related emissions worldwide will slow to just 0.5% a year, in its forecast, if the pledges are followed through, leaving total energy emissions at 42Gt in 2030.

But, the analysis found, even if annual energy-related emissions are barely growing by 2030, they will still be substantial, and halting their growth is “a critical and urgent milestone to achieving the global climate goal” of limiting warming to no more than 2C above pre-industrial levels.

Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA , said: “The energy industry needs a strong and clear signal from the Paris climate summit. Failing to send this signal will push energy investments in the wrong direction, locking in unsustainable energy infrastructure for decades.”

Meeting the pledges will require investment of about $13.5tn in energy efficiency and low-carbon technologies by 2030, or about $840bn on average for each of those years.

Birol said the fact that so many countries - representing about 90% of the global economy - had published their pledges, known as Intended National Direct Contributions or INDCs in UN jargon, was “in itself remarkable” and would help “build political momentum” for a deal in Paris.

However, in the latest round of talks aimed at clearing the way for a new global climate change agreement post-2020 in Paris, the messages were mixed.

Governments are meeting in Bonn for the last official days of negotiating time scheduled before the two weeks of Paris talks begin at the end of November. The French hosts and the UN see it as essential to get as much of an agreement as possible agreed in advance of the start of Paris, in order to have the final days run smoothly and produce a deal.

Central to that is slimming down the text of an agreement, which earlier this year stood at an unwieldy 90-plus pages.

That was reduced by the co-chairs to about 20 pages, but at this week’s talks parts of it have ballooned again as countries try to re-insert their favoured language or issues they feel have been sidelined. As a result, the text quickly nearly doubled in size, and countries are now trying to prevent further rises and slim down the crucial document once more.

Alden Meyer, of the Union of Concerned Scientists, called on the negotiators to use the final hours to build bridges and make compromises. “Countries need to move past just re-proposing their well-known national positions, and start working hard to craft bridging proposals on as many issues as possible. On crunch political issues where agreement can’t be reached here in Bonn, negotiators need to craft limited sets of clear options for ministers to grapple with in advance of or during Paris.”

As negotiators filed off into rooms to try to wrangle over aspects of the text in smaller groups, in an effort to get the progress required, some NGOs were furious that they were excluded from these spin-off negotiating groups, saying that their expertise could help countries reach agreement.

Amid concerns over sluggish progress at the negotiations, on the fringes there was also significant activity.

A group of more than 20 business associations, representing more than 100,000 companies from around the world, wrote an open letter to Christiana Figueres, the UN climate chief, to call for carbon markets and the provision of international links among such markets to be re-included in the draft text of the agreement, which at present is scant on the subject.

The groups included some with numbers of members dependent on fossil fuels or which have raised objections to carbon regulation in the past, including the Business Council of Australia, Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Edison Electric Institute, the Federation of German Industries and BusinessEurope.

However, a campaign called Kick Big Polluters Out called for all businesses with fossil fuel interests to be removed from the policymaking process, accusing corporate lobbyists of acting like those who advised the tobacco industry decades ago.

Separately, the OECD produced a report showing that emissions per unit of GDP had fallen since the 1990s in almost all of the world’s biggest economies, developed and developing. Taxes on energy are gradually being changed to reflect the carbon contents of fuel in these countries, but taxes have to date been “insufficient to spur technological change or significantly alter consumer behaviour”, the thinktank warned. In addition, it noted, public spending on research and development in energy remains low.

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Study finds the warmer it gets, the more world economy hurts

SETH BORENSTEIN Associated Press Yahoo News 21 Oct 15;

WASHINGTON (AP) — With each upward degree, global warming will singe the economies of three-quarters of the world's nations and widen the north-south gap between rich and poor countries, according to a new economic and science study.

Compared to what it would be without more global warming, the average global income will shrivel 23 percent at the end of the century if heat-trapping carbon dioxide pollution continues to grow at its current trajectory, according to a study published Wednesday in the scientific journal Nature.

Some countries, like Russia, Mongolia and Canada, would see large economic benefits from global warming, the study projects. Most of Europe would do slightly better, the United States and China slightly worse. Essentially all of Africa, Asia, South America and the Middle East would be hurt dramatically, the economists found.

"What climate change is doing is basically devaluing all the real estate south of the United States and making the whole planet less productive," said study co-author Solomon Hsiang, an economist and public policy professor at the University of California Berkeley. "Climate change is essentially a massive transfer of value from the hot parts of the world to the cooler parts of the world."

"This is like taking from the poor and giving to the rich," Hsiang said.

Lead author Marshall Burke of Stanford and Hsiang examined 50 years of economic data in 160 countries and even county-by-county data in the United States and found what Burke called "the goldilocks zone in global temperature at which humans are good at producing stuff" — an annual temperature of around 13 degrees Celsius or 55.4 degrees Fahrenheit, give or take a degree.

For countries colder than that economic sweet spot, every degree of warming heats up the economy and benefits. For the United States and other countries already at or above that temperature, every degree slows productivity, Burke and Hsiang said.

The 20th-century global average annual temperature is 57 degrees, or 13.9 degrees Celsius, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last year — the hottest on record — was 58.24 degrees and this year is almost certain to break that record, according to NOAA. Burke and Hsiang use different population-weighted temperature figures than NOAA calculates.

But the U.S. economy is humming despite the heat. When asked how that can be so, Burke said there were many factors important for growth beyond just temperature. He said one year's temperature and economic growth in one nation isn't telling. Instead, he and Hsiang looked at more than 6,000 "country-years" to get a bigger picture.

Burke compared the effect of global warming on economies to a head wind on a cross-country airplane flight. The effects at any given moment are small and seemingly unnoticeable but they add up and slow you down.

While it is fairly obvious that unusual high temperatures hurt agriculture, past studies show hot days even reduce car production at U.S. factories, Burke said.

"The U.S. is really close to the global optimum," Burke said, adding that as it warms, the U.S. will fall off that peak. The authors calculate a warmer U.S. in 2100 will have a gross domestic product per person that's 36 percent lower than it would be if warming stopped about now.

But because the U.S. is now at that ultimate peak, there's greater uncertainty in the study's calculations than in places like India, Pakistan, Vietnam, Nigeria and Venezuela where it's already hot and there's more certainty about dramatic economic harm, Hsiang said.

The authors' main figures are based on the premise that carbon dioxide emissions will continue to rise at the current trajectory. But countries across the world are pledging to control if not cut carbon pollution as international leaders prepare for a summit on climate change in Paris later this year. If the current pledges are kept, the warming cost in 2100 will drop from 23 percent to 15 percent, Burke said.

Gary Yohe, an environmental economist at Wesleyan University in Connecticut, praised the study as significant and thorough, saying Burke and Hsiang "use the most modern socio-economic scenarios." But Richard Tol, an economist at the University of Sussex in England, dismissed the study as unworthy to be published in an economics journal, saying "the hypothesized relationship is without foundation."

Other experts found good and bad points, with MIT's John Reilly saying it will spark quite a debate among economists.

Nature: http://www.nature.com/nature

Stanford website on the study: http://web.stanford.edu/~mburke/climate/

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Best of our wild blogs: 21 Oct 15

Flocking of Asian Glossy Starlings
Bird Ecology Study Group

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Malaysia: Expert warns of haze danger

AINA NASA New Straits Times 21 Oct 15;

KUALA LUMPUR: Afew more weeks of acrid haze, and Malaysians risk contracting acute and chronic health diseases, which could result in death.

As the thick smog continues to choke the region, health experts are worried the smoke caused by forest fires in Indonesia could pose health problems.

Environmental Health and Research fellow of the United Nations University-International Institute for Global Health (UNU-IIGH), Professor Dr Jamal Hisham Hashim, said a study published by reputable international journal Nature claimed that outdoor air pollution contributed significantly to premature deaths around the globe.

“Health impacts of air pollution are a function of dose as well as duration of exposure to air pollutants.

“We know the dose or level of particulate pollutant has attained hazardous levels of more than 300 in API (Air Pollutant Index) some time ago,” he told the New Straits Times.

According to the study, outdoor air pollution contributes to 3.3 million premature deaths per year globally from stroke (39.7 per cent), heart attack (32.7 per cent), chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (15.7 per cent), acute lower respiratory infection (seven per cent) and lung cancer (4.9 per cent).

Most of the deaths, Dr Jamal said, were due to the worsening of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases by the fine particle, PM2.5.
“PM2.5 comes mainly from combustion sources like motor vehicles, power plants, incinerators and forest fires.

“PM2.5 of carbonaceous origins, like forest fires and biomass burnings, is believed to be a more potent health hazard than that from other sources.”
The groups most at risk, Jamal added, were the elderly with hypertension and heart diseases, those with respiratory diseases like asthma, chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and children who were physically more active and with immature lungs.

“The effects of the haze are worse on the heart than the lungs, leading to strokes and heart attacks.”

Dr Jamal said the levels of PM2.5 in our atmosphere could not be determined as the system had yet to be put in place.

It was reported recently that Deputy Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Hamim Samuri said the ministry was pushing for all 52 monitoring stations nationwide to include the measurement of PM2.5 as the matter had been outlined in the 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020).

However, Hamim said, the move could only take effect in two years.

Responding to this, Dr Jamal said the monitoring exercise could be done in stages.

“The best defence against haze is to stay indoors. It is also important to reduce indoor sources of air pollution like smoking, frying and burning of mosquito coils.

“If you must go outside, wear N95 masks,” he said, adding that N95 masks were most effective because they were designed for dusty atmospheres and could filter the air people breathed.

“The normal surgical mask was designed to prevent users from spreading germs, not protecting them from the air outside. However, any kind of mask is better than nothing.”

In Malacca, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam said government hospitals and clinics were ready to provide medical assistance to those suffering from haze-related illnesses.

“The public should avoid outdoor activities, if possible,” he said before opening the state MIC special convention here yesterday.

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MOE to review haze management in schools

KELLY NG Today Online 21 Oct 15;

SINGAPORE — The Ministry of Education (MOE) is working with the Ministry of Health and the National Environment Agency to review its haze-management measures in schools, it said today (Oct 20) in response to TODAY’s queries. “We will provide an update on the enhanced haze management measures when we have completed the review,” the ministry said.

Together with MOH and NEA, the education ministry will “carefully re-assess our existing haze-management measures to better protect our students from the effects of haze for future haze seasons”.

MOE was responding to a petition for the ministry to take immediate steps to haze-proof its schools. Started two days ago, the petition has garnered more than 2,200 supporters as of 10pm today.

Initiated by Dr Christy Toh — a mother of two aged five and nine — the petition on Change.org called on MOE to make arrangements for lessons to be conducted in air-conditioned rooms with mechanical air filters and implement e-learning for “non-essential lessons” when PM2.5 concentration reaches unhealthy levels, among other things. Support for the petition grew as both PM2.5 and three-hour Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) readings rocketed on yesterday night. The one-hour PM2.5 levels hit 471 micrograms per cubic metre in western Singapore at 11pm — the highest level recorded so far this year.

PM2.5 refers to fine particles less than 2.5 microns in diameter, which can slip past the nasal passages into the lungs and blood streams. Guidelines by the World Health Organization state that there is little evidence for setting a threshold for particular matter below which there will be no adverse health effects. But, the American Environmental Protection Agency sets a 24-hour threshold for PM2.5 at a level of 35 micrograms per cubic metre.

In the petition, Dr Toh noted that children are particularly vulnerable to the haze because their respiratory systems are immature. She told TODAY: “The measures now are very inconsistent across different schools, you have teachers who say children do not need to wear masks in the classroom because classrooms are ‘indoors’ even though the doors and windows remain open.”

Other parents whom this newspaper spoke to noted that current MOE guidelines only call for lesson plans to be modified only when the 24-hour PSI surges beyond 200, which they found inadequate.

Mdm Law Jee Wei, who has a 10-year-old son and five-year-old daughter, said she has kept her son from school for at least five times over the last two months when haze conditions worsened. “But we cannot keep doing that, we don’t want him to fall back (in his studies), and he wants to attend classes too,” she said.

Dr Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious disease doctor in private practice, said school-going children are especially vulnerable because many classrooms are not air-conditioned. “Even when we move students into an air-conditioned hall when PSI levels cross MOE’s threshold, the hall will be overcrowded and lessons cannot be conducted in an effective manner,” he said.

As part of MOE’s existing haze-management measures, all schools have sufficient enclosed spaces to cater to the students. The schools are also equipped with air purifiers for students who feel unwell or have underlying conditions. Citing the closure of schools on Sept 25, MOE said it would also consider shutting schools when the 24-hour PSI for the next day is expected to hit hazardous levels. It added: “Nevertheless, we also note that this year’s haze season is unusually prolonged, and with more episodes of elevated PSI levels than we have typically experienced in the past.”

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Indonesia names Singaporean company as suspect in land fires

Another foreign firm named suspect in land fires
Antara 21 Oct 15;

Pekanbaru, Riau (ANTARA News) - The police have named oil palm plantation company PT Palm Lestari Makmur as a suspect in an alleged case of land and forest fires in its concession area in Indragiri Hulu district, Riau province.

"The company has been named as a suspect and we will soon bring the case to justice," Special Crime Director of the Riau Provincial Police, Senior Commissioner Arif Rahman Hakim, said here on Tuesday.

The police are currently investigating several witnesses, including an expert witness, in the alleged case of land fires involving the Singaporean company, he said.

Deputy Director of Special Crime of the Riau Provincial Police, Adjunct Senior Commissioner Ari Rahman Nafarin, said 29 hectares land has allegedly been burned by the company.

The police named the company as a suspect after investigating a number of its executives, he said.

Nafarin said the police are also in the process of investigating other foreign company, PT Pan United in Bengkalis district, Riau province, for allegedly setting fire to its land.

"We will announce the developments in the investigation of the case in the near future," he said.

In August 2015, the police had also named oil palm plantation firm, PT Langgam Inti Hibrindo, as a suspect in a case of land fire.

The police later named Frans Katihokang, one of the companys executives, as a suspect in the case.

Nafarin said the company is charged with an act of negligence leading to land fire, pursuant to Law No. 32/2009 on Environmental Protection and Management.(*)

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Indonesia: Flights canceled, hot spots increase in Sumatra

thejakartapost.com 20 Oct 15;

Flights at the Sultan Syarif Kasim II International Airport in Pekanbaru, Riau, have been canceled on Tuesday due to smog, including those from Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya, Lion Air and Citilink.

"Of the 70 flights scheduled for today, 24 have been confirmed as canceled," said the airport's duty manager Hasnan Siregar on Tuesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

According to Hasnan, dozens of other flights have also been delayed due to limited visibility, which reached 800 meters at 11 a.m.

On Monday, all of the flights at the airport, 78 in total, were canceled due to similar reasons.

According to Pekanbaru's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), half of Riau province was covered in thick haze on Tuesday morning with visibility between 50 to 400 meters.

"Dumai suffers the worst with visibility only 50 meters at 7 a.m. Others, like Pelalawan and Pekanbaru, are between 300 and 400 m," said head of BMKG Pekanbaru Sugarin.

According to Sugarin, up to 825 hot spots were detected throughout Sumatra on Tuesday morning, with South Sumatra being the highest contributor with 654 hot spots.

Jambi, which previously had zero hot spots, is reportedly on fire again, with up to 110 hot spots detected. (kes)(++++)


Hot spots increase in Papua, South Sumatra
thejakartapost.com 21 Oct 15;

Several flights at Moses Kilangin Airport in Timika, Mimika regency, Papua, were canceled on Wednesday morning because as a thick haze from nearby fires brought visibility down to around 1 kilometer.

According to Timika meteorology station spokesperson Dwi Christanto, the region's cool weather has kept the haze from dissipating, leaving it to blanket the airport instead.

"Weather conditions in Timika will improve if the number of hot spots in Merauke regency are reduced and firefighting is maximized," said Dwi on Wednesday as quoted by Antara news agency.

Since Oct. 15, the airport has been unable to serve wide-body aircraft such as those from Garuda Indonesia, Sriwijaya Air and Airfast Indonesia.

On Tuesday, 257 hot spots were detected by NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites in Papua and Maluku, up from 229 the previous day. Yos Sudarso Island in Merauke regency and the border area between Merauke and Mappi regencies were said to have the most hot spots.

Meanwhile, the number of hot spots in South Sumatra has also increased, rising to 530 on Wednesday, spread across 16 regencies and cities. This increase comes despite the area having been the focus of foreign aid as requested by President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo. Two days ago, there were only 163 hot spots in South Sumatra.

"The number of hot spots detected in South Sumatra in October has been fluctuating. It will decrease for a few days, but the next day drastically increase, just like today," said spokesperson for the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) South Sumatra, Indra Purnama.

Ogan Komering Ilir regency is home to most of South Sumatra’s hot spots, with 356, followed by Musi Rawas with 50 hot spots, Musi Banyuasin with 35, Banyuasin with 34, Lahat with 13, North Musi Rawas with 11 and Ogan Komering Ulu with 10. (kes)(++++)


Riau extends haze emergency status
thejakartapost.com 20 Oct 15;

Riau province has extended its air-pollution emergency status up to Nov. 1 a top official said on Tuesday.

Acting Riau governor Arsyadjuliandi Rachman issued a decree on the status extension on Oct. 19.

"We extend the haze emergency status as the air quality in Riau is not stable yet and there is still haze from neighboring provinces," he said as reported by Antara news agency.

Riau and other parts of Sumatra have been covered with their worst haze in history over the past three months due to forest and land fires mostly caused by land clearing for plantation companies.

Rachman said that the decision to prolong the status had been made in consultation with related agencies like the Riau haze task force and the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

He cited the BMKG’s statement that air quality is still poor and that rainy season was predicted not to come until early November.

"We must increase health services so there will be no more people getting sick from the haze," he said.

Data from the Riau haze task force showed that air-pollution in Riau's capital of Pekanbaru was at a "dangerous" level.

Thick haze still covers Pekanbaru and continues to disrupt flights at Sultan Syarif Kasim II Airport.

Riau health office reports that there were 62,531 people affected by respiratory infections from Sept 29 to Oct. 18. (rin) (++++)


Law continues to be enforced against forest burners: Minister
Antara 20 Oct 15;

Palembang, S Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The police will continue to enforce the law against those found guilty of setting fire to forests, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan has said.

"The law enforcement has been carried out by the police and is being coordinated with the Environment and Forestry Ministry," Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said here on Tuesday.

He said he was continuously evaluating the way investigations in cases of those accused of setting fire to forest were proceeding.

"The law against those burning forest should be enforced firmly as part of the efforts to prevent such forest fires in the future," the minister said.

However, he noted, that the government has cooperated with foreign countries to extinguish land and forest fires in several provinces in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"Two aircrafts from Russia will arrive this evening. These planes have a capacity of 12 thousand liters. I hope these will enable better handling of forest fires," he said.

Meanwhile, the National Police Chief, General Badrodin Haiti, said the police continues to investigate some reports of forest and plantation fires on Sumatra and Kalimantan islands.

"There are hundreds of reports of forest fires in Indonesia. We continue to investigate those cases," he said.

The police has submitted files of perpetrators involved in the fires to the Attorney Generals Office.

Earlier, the police had received 244 reports on forest and plantation fires. Of the 244 reports, 218 are being investigated, and 26 are in the pre-investigation stage.

Of the total number of cases registered, 113 cases involve individuals and 48 involve companies.

National Police Chief General Badrodin Haiti revealed that till October 12, the police had named 240 suspects, including individuals and 12 companies, in forest and land fire cases in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

They will be charged under the law on Protection and Management of the Environment that provides for a minimum punishment of three years and a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail, with a fine ranging from Rp3 billion to Rp10 billion.

The 12 companies are suspected of having acted as the mastermind behind the fires.

Of the companies named suspects, two are foreign companies. "One of the two foreign companies is from Malaysia, the other one being from China," Haiti told a press conference recently.

He said his office would conduct intensive investigations into the activities of the two foreign companies.

He said the police were also investigating possible involvement of a Singaporean firm in forest and land fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan.

"We are still examining the involvement of the Singaporean company. I could not yet ascertain its involvement," the police chief said.(*)


Palangka Raya authorities close schools as haze reaches hazardous level
Antara 20 Oct 15;

Palangka Raya, C Kalimantan (ANTARA News) - The Palangka Raya authorities have decided to temporarily close schools from the kindergarten to senior high school level as haze from forest fires has reached 1,354.32 PM10 level, which is deemed categorically dangerous.

The schools were closed from October 19 to 21, 2015, Septia Rianty, a senior high school teacher, stated here, Monday.

The students have been given homework, so they could study at home, she added.

"Teachers are actually highly concerned as the learning process of the students has been disrupted frequently due to the haze from forest fires," she affirmed.

She hoped the government would take stern action, so that such a disaster would not recur in the coming years.

Previously, the capital of Central Kalimantan had closed schools on September 10-16, on September 25-October 6, and yet again on October 16-17 due to the haze.

Head of the Palangka Raya education office Norma Hikmah remarked that the decision to close the schools was taken to prevent students from falling ill due to the air pollution.(*)


Get Real goes to the Heart of the Haze
Channel NewsAsia's investigative documentary team speaks to firefighters, activists, politicians and people on the street in Kalimantan, Indonesia, dealing with one of the worst haze crises since 1997.
Kane Cunico Channel NewsAsia 20 Oct 15;

PALANGKA RAYA: Around her, air pollution index (API) levels are at a staggering 2,600 API and a thick, yellowish haze her hometown a haunting, post-apocalyptic hue, yet college student Emmanuela Dewi Shinta is hopeful that things will get better.

"I’ll like to be optimistic about the next year, that there will be no haze,” the 23-year-old told Channel NewsAsia.

Emmanuela has been doing her bit to stem recurrence of the haze. She lobbies local politicians to take action on the yearly burning of peat land to make way for palm oil plantations and volunteers her time taking food to firefighters and villagers battling up to hundreds of hotspots around Central Kalimantan.

Emmanuela is one of the many people Channel NewsAsia's Get Real team spoke to at ground zero of the haze problem for the documentary Heart of the Haze. This year, Indonesians are experiencing one of its worst rash of forest and plantation fires since 1997. Indonesian President Joko Widodo has said up to 1.7 million hectares of land is burning.

NOWHERE TO HIDE FROM HAZE

Prior to the team's arrival in Palangka Raya on Sep 22, API levels were at 800. Anything above 350 according to Indonesia’s meteorological, climate and geophysics department is in the hazardous range. But API levels went off the charts the moment they landed and stayed that way for the next two weeks, at one point reaching 2,600.

Said producer Say Xiangyu, who filmed outdoors in such conditions for more than 12 hours daily for eight days, said: “The toxic haze affects you physically. The crew experienced breathing difficulties and felt dizzy on shoots. But it also gets to you mentally. You start feeling trapped, because there is nowhere to run from the haze. The haze is inside the mall, your hotel room and flights are grounded.”

Ms Say said comfort levels aside, it was more important for the crew and her to tell the stories of those living so close to the danger zone.

“I was amazed by their spirit. They did not sit around and wait for the government to help them. Instead, they joined the fight and asked what they could do for the country. Even if it’s in small ways, like cooking lunch for volunteers.

“I remember a particularly poignant moment when I stood at the grave of a girl called Intan. Her parents told me that the haze killed her. That really hit home for me – that this haze is not just irritating, or toxic – it’s deadly. And I never want to take fresh air for granted.”

Filming alongside Ms Say was cameraman, Bjorn Vaughn, 34, a resident of Palangka Raya for almost six years. His wife and child have moved to Jakarta to escape the toxic pall.

“Half the time I wouldn’t even recognise where we were. I felt that the whole place had an alternate dimension and it was very eerie,” he said referring to the yellowish smoke that descended upon the city.

Mr Vaughn said the crew was ultimately moved by the humanity that they uncovered throughout their journey. In particular, he was inspired by the many volunteer firefighters, some of them still in their teens. “I reflected on the many experiences that we had and the devastation we saw, and I would be very sad. I would think of that young firefighter in the news. That moved me to tears, that he’s fighting the fires because it was his spiritual calling,” said Mr Vaughn.

“People in Central Kalimantan, despite the circumstances, have amazing coping ability, and this incredible positivity.

“Their ability to be so loving, despite everything. It’s very hard to understand how people can stay so incredibly positive.”

Channel NewsAsia’s Get Real documentary, Heart Of The Haze, airs tonight, 8pm (SG/HK) and 7pm (JKT). Encores will be broadcast on Oct 21, 6pm (SG/HK) and Oct 22, 1pm (SG/HK).

Haze crisis could persist into new year, say experts
Wahyudi Soeriaatmadja, Strait Times Jakarta Post 20 Oct 15;

The fires raging in forests and peatland across Indonesia, which produce the thick haze that has spread across South-east Asia in recent weeks, are unlikely to be put out in the next month or two.

This means the crisis could persist into the new year, experts said, as the latest reports show hot spots emerging in 18 provinces in the archipelagic state in the past few days.

"Maybe it will last until December and January," Dr Herry Purnomo of the Centre for International Forestry Research said in a Reuters report yesterday. He added that there were also hot spots in Papua, a region usually spared such fires, because "people are opening new agriculture areas, like palm oil".

The Ministry of Environment and Forestry yesterday said it was still investigating the cause of the fires in Papua. But its director-general of law enforcement, Mr Rasio Ridho Sani, said this year's fires have reached an unprecedented level.

"We have never imagined we would ever see those lines of hot spots in Sulawesi and Papua," he told reporters, pointing to a hot- spot map during the briefing.

The smouldering haze from the fires has spread across many parts of Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Philippines.

Malaysia's Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar was quoted in an Agence France-Presse report as saying that he expects the crisis to continue for another month. "Unless there is rain, there is no way human intervention can put out the fires."

Indonesian national disaster management agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told The Straits Times: "Rain will start in December. It is impossible that we will still have the haze problem in January."

Meanwhile, three cities on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao were also covered by thick smoke. Weather forecaster Gerry Pedrico told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the haze had been covering the cities of Davao, Cagayan de Oro and General Santos since last Saturday.

The end of Indonesia's annual dry spell in October is usually marked by the start of the rainy season.

But the dry weather in Indonesia this year has been exacerbated by an extended El Nino season. This has made it harder to put out the fires, despite multinational firefighting operations in South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan - two of the worst-hit provinces in Indonesia.

Yesterday, a state of emergency was declared in North Sulawesi, which opened the doors for Jakarta to help contain the fires there.

A water bomber that can carry 4,300 litres of water was being prepared for deployment in the province, one of the latest to be hit by fires, said Environment and Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar.

Her ministry yesterday also revoked the licences of two plantation companies and suspended four firms for allegedly using fire to clear land. It also ordered another four companies to procure adequate equipment to prevent and douse fires on their concessions.

Mr Tri Budiarto, who is in charge of emergency response at BNPB, said the forecast from Indonesia's meteorology, climatology and geophysics agency indicates that in about a week, areas south of the Equator, which include South Sumatra and Central Kalimantan, should see rainfall.

"If this proves to be true later, God willing, our firefighting operations would get a lift," he said.

The haze crisis seems to be showing no signs of abating, but the Joko Widodo government is doing all it can to resolve the fires, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Luhut Pandjaitan said in Singapore yesterday.

Mr Luhut, who was speaking at the RSIS-Brookings-KADIN Distinguished Public Lecture, said on the sidelines of the event that two Russian-made Beriev Be-200 water bombers will be deployed today in South Sumatra's Ogan Komering Ilir regency.

He will also be heading to areas badly hit by forest fires in South Sumatra today. "I will be there to see the progress of the firefighting operations and also get a briefing on the effectiveness of water bombing," he said.

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