Tag: haze

Toxic Sydney bushfire haze a ‘public health emergency’

  by Holly ROBERTSON Agence France Presse SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australia’s biggest city is facing a “public health emergency” over the bushfire smoke that has choked Sydney for weeks, leading doctors warned Monday after hospitals reported a dramatic spike in casualty department visits. Hundreds of climate change-fuelled bushfires have been raging across Australia for months, with efforts to contain a “mega-blaze” burning north of Sydney destroying an estimated 20 homes overnight and fires near […]

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Malaysia, Indonesia shut thousands of schools over forest fires haze

  KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Thousands of schools were shuttered across Malaysia and Indonesia Thursday, affecting at least 1.7 million pupils, officials said, as toxic haze from rampant forest fires sent air quality plummeting. Nearly 2,500 schools were ordered to shut their doors in Malaysia — including nearly 300 in the smog-hit capital Kuala Lumpur — over soaring health concerns sparked by toxic haze from out-of-control blazes in Indonesia’s Sumatra and Borneo islands. Indonesia […]

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Indonesian haze closes schools, sparks fears for Singapore F1

    by Sam Reeves Agence France Presse KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) — Toxic haze from Indonesian forest fires closed thousands of schools across the country and in neighbouring Malaysia Wednesday, while air quality worsened in Singapore just days before the city’s Formula One motor race. Illegal fires to clear land for agriculture are blazing out of control on Sumatra and Borneo islands, with Jakarta deploying thousands of security forces and water-bombing aircraft to tackle […]

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Dozens hospitalized in Indonesia as thick haze spreads

 MEULABOH, Indonesia (AFP) — Young children lie in hospital in Aceh province, Indonesia, as thick smoke caused by forest fires forces dozens of people to be treated for lung infections. Some schoolchildren were still able to go to school in Meulaboh Wednesday wearing masks but several schools suspended classes so students could stay at home. In the past week, about 35 hotspots — concentrations of fires — have destroyed 70 hectares (0.27 square miles) of forests and other […]

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Thick haze enveloping north China, affecting daily life

BEIJING, China (Reuters) — Heavy haze enveloping many parts of north China is seriously disrupting people’s daily life. In Beijing, Tuesday marks the fifth day of a red alert warning against air pollution. As of 06:30, a total of 169 flights had been canceled due to low visibility of less than 300 meters. The visibility is expected to rise to one kilometer after 10:00. The government has increased its public transport capacities and implemented the […]

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Haze envelops 1.4 million square kilometers of China

CCTV — Haze has covered about 1.4 million square kilometers of China’s total land area as of Sunday afternoon, according to the National Meteorological Center (NMC). The center is maintaining an orange alert for haze from Sunday for north China, warning that air pollution will be the most severe from Monday evening until Wednesday. Various cities in east and central China issued a red alert for severe air pollution on Thursday, and as their caution […]

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Activists slam ASEAN roadmap to stop smog

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AFP) – Southeast Asian nations agreed to a roadmap on Thursday to combat acrid haze from Indonesian fires that cloaks vast swathes of the region every year, but the move was greeted by activists with scepticism. Further doubts were raised about the agreement with the Indonesian environment minister skipping the one-day meeting in Kuala Lumpur attended by environment ministers from the the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), a 10-member regional bloc. Malaysia’s […]

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Metro Cebu, muling nakakaranas ng haze

CEBU, Philippines — Ayon sa analysis, 70 micro-grams per cubic meter ang alikabok sa haze na mas mataas sa normal na 50 micro-grams per cubic meter. Hindi pa ma-tukoy ng Department of Environment and Natural Resources ang sanhi nito, subalit hini-hinalang mula sa mga sunog sa probinsya. Nag-labas na rin ng advisory ang Department of Health kung paano mag-iingat sa epekto ng haze sa kalusugan.

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PAGASA warns against return of haze

According to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration, there is a possibility that the haze rising from the forest fire in Indonesia will return to the Philippines if ever a low-pressure area enters the Philippine area of responsibility, which may draw the haze into the country. The PAGASA said that there are three possible LPA’s that may enter the Philippines for the rest of 2015. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, […]

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Indonesia declares state of emergency over haze

OCTOBER 30 — Indonesia has declared a state of emergency due to thick haze smoldering across the country for weeks, spreading haze drifting across much of Southeast Asia. The last time the country declared a national emergency was when the Indian Ocean tsunami killed more than 100,000 people in 2004.

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Call for ASEAN to fight haze

Singapore has urged fellow ASEAN members to take “firm and decisive action” against the lethal haze still spreading across the region ahead of a group summit in Malaysia next month. The city-state, one of the most badly affected by recurring smog from land fires in Indonesia, issued the call after Singaporean troops and fire fighters returned from an international assistance mission in Indonesia’s Sumatra Island. Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said that “ASEAN must […]

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DFA sends delegate in Vietnam regarding haze from Indonesia

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) sent delegates to Hanoi, Vietnam in connection with the emergency meeting called by the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) regarding the haze caused by forest fires in Indonesia. Said haze is now affecting the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia. (Eagle News Service Described by Jay Paul Carlos, Video Editing by Jericho Morales, Uploaded by MRFaith Bonalos)

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