| Archive for bridgebuilder.myfreeforum.org bridgebuilding effort, cross culture, cross faith, not bridge construction |
| obmar |
Riau Islands threatened by hazehttp://www.thejakartapost.com/det...sp?fileid=20070705.B10&irec=9Riau Islands threatened by haze Fadli, The Jakarta Post, Batam The Hang Nadim office of the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) in Batam said Wednesday that Riau Islands province could soon be blanketed by haze from Sumatra. Sunarto, head of the office's data and information section, said that based on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s 12 satellites monitoring the situation, the number of fires in Sumatra on Tuesday jumped to at least 231 from fewer than 100 previously. Other data recorded at Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra, on the same day, showed 254 fires were seen in Sumatra, as compared to only 142 a day earlier. Sunarto said that up to 43 fires had been detected in mainland Malaysia, with another 18 seen on Borneo, which is shared between Malaysia, Brunei and Indonesia. "In Malaysia, fires can also be detected through the NOAA satellite. As the Riau Islands are located between Sumatra and Malaysia, the area is under threat from the haze if there is no rainfall over the next few days," Sunarto said. Visibility in Batam drops from up to 9,000 meters normally to down to 500 meters during the annual haze. "In the evenings the situation is worse because that's when bush burning usually happens. I have asked the residents of the Riau Islands to be prepared for this," he said. Meanwhile, air quality in a Malaysian state has plunged to unhealthy levels in recent days because of smog from the forest fires in Indonesia, officials said Wednesday. A Department of Environment official told AFP in Kuala Lumpur that the Air Pollution Index (API) at Bakar Arang in northern Kedah hit 104 early Wednesday. The API index considers a score of 101-200 to be unhealthy. And major western coast areas from Negeri Sembilan and central Selangor to the northern states of Perak, Penang, Kedah have inched closer to unhealthy air levels, the official said The Meteorological Services Department said the haze was due to forest-burning in Sumatra. "The haze is causing reduced visibility of less than 10 kilometers in some parts of central Selangor state to Penang," an official told AFP. At least 68,000 farmers in Kedah state, a vital paddy production region in Malaysia, expressed concern that the haze may damage their crop. "We are monitoring the situation closely and hope for some rain or strong winds to remove the haze," Ismail Arshad, chairman of the local farmers' association was quoted as saying Wednesday. |
| The Inquisitor |
That's horrible, obmar.
What's causing so many fires?? As for rain, we have just had the driest year on record. From July, 2006, to June, 2007, it hasn't rained more than five inches in total in Southern California. We will probably experience one of the worst fire seasons ever. |
| obmar |
To cultivate, they clear the land, then they make organic heaps and burn them.
Its an activity during the driest part of the year. We cant invervene. but we are affected as the haze knows no boundary.. And land conversion is on the big time there as the area is opening up for investment in plantations. |