bakedbean

What can be done?

The Star Online reporting today (what all of us here already know) that air quality and visibility has worsened later. Hotspots have increased from 62 to 120 overnight in Sumatra. All I know is there's a big fog outside our balcony and Georgetown has disappeared

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp...763&sec=nation

Don't wish to start a slanging match on here but is there anything us mere mortals can do about it? Apart from sodding off somewhere else.

ex reg

Well your lungs filter out all the particulates.

So breath more and you'll be able to see further..

bakedbean

Ah... I see

Sherlock Holmes

I don't wish to start a slanging match either but your suggestion that we all sod off somewhere else is in fact the only "green" measure that will make the slightest difference.

Earth abides.

bakedbean

It's strange 'cause my first year in Penang there was no haze at all and I was thinking What's all the fuss about? This year, I know.

the troubadour

Some years are worse than others obviously but it has been an ongoing problem for a long time.

While developers continue to light fires in order to clear land for planting and what ever other reasons in your case Sumatra there will be no let up.

Problem being of course although to my knowledge it is illegal to do so it is not at all enforced.
Fires are lit then allowed to burn until they burn themselves out. This means the fires continue to burn in neighbouring forest until put out by nature. ie..Nothing more to burn or as often the case when the rains start.
Indonesia has still yet to ratify the 98 Asean Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, although they have indicated they will sign.
Question being even if they finally do put signiture to paper just how much will enforcement be possible.

Meanwhile places like Penang will not be healthy places to be in and especially anyone suffering from broncal problems.

bakedbean

Is anything enforced in south east Asia? And Malaysia just the same I think. They do a fair amount of burning. My OH gets a bit chesty at times but thankfully the Haze doesn't seem to be affecting him. And, funnily enough, we were more affected by burning when we lived in the UK (in Norfolk). The farmers used to regularly burn and that got pretty smokey at times. And then the muck spreading but that's a different matter.

Do you get any of this in Oz? Burning I mean (and not the bush fires).

the troubadour

It can be on occassions in OZ when the powers that be are burning off but have only experienced that out in the bush.
Recall in Ireland (countryside)at times when the wind blew a certain way those peat fires that folk would insist on burning, on odd occassions could cause some discomfort.

columbine

Just feel like I have sand papers in my throat and irritating coughs for weeks This year the haze's been dragging on and surprisingly not much noise from the fed govt. It's not a good time to visit Penang. Looking forward to Oct with the change in the monsoon winds