El Nino stoking forest fires in Indonesia

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Big forest fires in Indonesia...

Indonesia forest fires could top records: NASA
Sat, Oct 03, 2015 - CHOKING HAZE: With El Nino making conditions even drier than usual in Indonesia, this year’s fires could break 1997’s record, scientists at NASA said

Forest fires blanketing Southeast Asia in choking haze are on track to become among the worst on record, scientists warn, with a prolonged dry season hampering efforts to curb the crisis. Malaysia, Singapore and large expanses of Indonesia have suffered for weeks from acrid smoke billowing from fires on plantations and peatlands that are being illegally cleared by burning. The crisis grips the region nearly every year during the dry season, flaring diplomatic tensions among the neighbors as flights are grounded, schools close and pollution levels reach hazardous highs. However, the current outbreak is one of the worst and longest-lasting in years, with an El Nino weather system making conditions drier than usual in Indonesia and keeping much-needed rain at bay.

A BASE jumper yesterday leaps from the 300m-high Kuala Lumpur Tower during the International Tower Jump in which more than 100 people take part, on a hazy day in Kuala Lumpur.​

Scientists at NASA now warn this year’s outbreak is on a trajectory similar to 1997 — widely regarded as the most serious haze event on record — and could exceed those unprecedented levels. “Conditions in Singapore and southeastern Sumatra are tracking close to 1997,” Robert Field, a Columbia University scientist based at NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, was quoted as saying by the US science agency. “If the forecasts for a longer dry season hold, this suggests 2015 will rank among the most severe events on record,” he said. Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research haze expert Herry Purnomo said the situation was akin to 1997, describing the magnitude of this year’s fires as “horrendous.” “I believe the impact of the fires this year will be as bad as 1997, in terms of the cost,” he said.

Indonesia has deployed more than 20,000 troops, police and other personnel to Sumatra and Kalimantan to fight the fires through water-bombing and chemically induced rainfall, and hopes rain will arrive within a month to finally douse the blazes. Indonesia has faced pressure from its neighbors to address the problem since it first emerged nearly 20 years ago. Authorities say that this year, tens of thousands of people across Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia have been forced to seek medical treatment for respiratory problems. The fires also contribute significantly to climate change. The NASA-linked Global Fire Emissions Database has estimated about 600 million tonnes of greenhouse gases have been released as a result of this year’s fires — roughly equivalent to Germany’s entire annual output.

Indonesia forest fires could top records: NASA - Taipei Times

 

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Granny says dat's what's been causin' her coughin' fits - `cause alla dat smoke from dem Chinamens is burnin' down the rainforests...

Health Problems Widening from Asian Rainforest Fires
October 06, 2015 — Officials in Thailand are warning that smoke from Indonesia’s massive rainforest fires is affecting public health in four southern provinces. For weeks, haze from Indonesia’s land clearing has prompted health alerts in that country, as well as in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore. Poor air quality has led to cancellations of classes, sporting events and other activities.

Indonesian farmers and developers routinely burn rainforest to clear land at this time of year, but a large rise in palm oil production is blamed for the massive fires and the resulting haze. NASA forecasts this year’s fires will become the region’s worst on record. Although the pollution spreads across the region, so too do the profits from businesses behind the land clearing. Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean investors and companies have close links with the politicians and officials in Indonesia, creating a conflict of interest, according to those who have studied the issue. “Once they retire from the government, they are re-employed in these companies as advisers and as other positions to maintain this relationship with the present government,” said Helena Binti Muhamad Varkkey, deputy executive director of the Asia-Europe Institute at the University of Malaya.

A woman looks toward the prime minister's office, which is shrouded in haze from Indonesian fires, in Putrajaya, Malaysia​

No punishments for polluters

The Association of Southeast Asian Nations has been trying to mitigate the issue for decades, in part through its agreement on trans-boundary haze pollution, which Indonesia ratified last year. “There is no dispute settlement, there is no enforcement, there is no punishment mechanism in the agreement. So even though it is supposed to be legally binding, it is pretty much still up to Indonesia whether or not they want to really follow the rules and all that spelled out in the agreement,” Varkkey, author of The Haze Problem in Southeast Asia, told VOA.

The answer to the problem, according to Varkkey, is not banning palm oil production, important to the economies of Indonesia and Malaysia. Rather, she advocates using other, ample forestland instead of the more desirable, sparsely populated but fire-prone peat lands. “When fires occur on these really dry peat lands, they produce the very thick, black smoke that can travel across national boundaries, and this is what produces the haze that we find today,” said Varkkey. Environmental organizations such as the World Wide Fund for Nature are taking a multipronged approach to combating the problem.

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Forest fires choking the whole region...

Southeast Asia, Choking on Haze, Struggles for a Solution
OCT. 8, 2015 — Savir Singh’s taxi rolled into downtown Singapore, taking an overpass that provides a stunning view of the popular hotels and tourist attractions around Marina Bay.

The only problem was that he could barely see them. Thick haze from forest fires set in neighboring Indonesia to clear land for agriculture has blanketed this island state for weeks, and has spread to Malaysia and southern Thailand. While many Singaporeans have sought refuge from the pollution in their homes, offices or shopping malls, Mr. Singh’s only haven is his mobile workplace, and a small bottle of eyedrops lying near his armrest. “Look at this,” he said, pointing to the partly obscured Singapore Flyer, a 540-foot-tall Ferris wheel. “I wish they had haze in Jakarta. Then the government there would do something about it.”

A fire being extinguished on peatland and fields in the province of South Sumatra in Indonesia.​

Mr. Singh’s anger is part and parcel of a near-annual ritual: Fires set in Sumatra and the Indonesian side of Borneo blanket parts of Southeast Asia with smoke for weeks. While this has been going on for decades, an especially long dry season this year coupled with the effects of El Niño, threaten to make it the worst on record, scientists say. Around the region, flights have been grounded, schools have been closed, and tens of thousands of people have sought medical treatment for respiratory problems, allergies, eczema and other ailments. The first night of an international sports competition, the FINA Swimming World Cup, set for last Saturday and hosted by Singapore, was canceled because of health concerns — as was a marathon in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysia capital, set to be run the next morning.

Cable cars heading to and from the Sentosa resort in Singapore last month. Thick haze from man-made forest fires in neighboring Indonesia has blanketed the island state.​

This year, there have been more vocal complaints from people affected in Singapore, Malaysia and even in Indonesia. There has also been high-profile sniping among government leaders, along with lawsuits, investigations and arrests of accused fire-starters — a familiar replay from 2013, when the region suffered its last major bout of haze. After the skies cleared in 2013, the issue was once again forgotten — until last month, when the crisis erupted anew. The consensus this year is the same as it was then: The slash-and-burn techniques used in Indonesia’s palm oil industry are continuing unabated, and there is no magic bullet for ending the practice — or the haze it causes — in the short term. Finding the long-term solution requires reducing agriculture in Indonesia’s carbon-rich peatland, curtailing slash-and-burn methods for clearing land and halting the conversions of forests to agricultural uses including palm oil, said Peter Holmgren, director general of the Center for International Forestry Research, a global scientific organization with its headquarters in Bogor, Indonesia. “Fire is the most cost-effective way of clearing, which is why it is done,” he said.

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Singapore to help Indonesia with wildfires...

Indonesia will get help from Singapore for haze
Oct. 8, 2015 -- Indonesia accepted Singapore's offer Wednesday to help deal with the haze from months of intentional fires that have crippled the country, a Singapore government official said.

Singapore's Minister for Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan announced on his Facebook page that his government's formal request for the names of the plantation companies that are suspected of clearing land by setting fires was accepted by Indonesia's Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi. The two countries are now expected to work together to punish the companies responsible for a haze that has grown over Indonesia for months, choking people and livestock, and crippling the country.

Indonesia has accepted the offer of assistance from Singapore to deal with plantation fires that have crippled the country.​

Schools and some businesses have been closed. Farmers have lost crops. Aircraft are unable to fly in or out of airports. The smoke is now spreading to neighboring countries like Singapore and Malaysia. "We also reiterated our haze assistance package, which includes assets, personnel, high-resolution satellite pictures and hotspot coordinates," Balakrishnan said. The offer includes the use of one C-130 aircraft for cloud seeding operations and two C-130s to transport a fire-fighting team from the Singapore Civil Defense Force.

A Chinook helicopter with a heli-bucket under-slung for fire fighting could also be provided if available, Balakrishnan said. "Good for our countries to work together to resolve this as soon as possible," he said. "Singapore stands ready to assist Indonesia in its haze combating and fire-fighting efforts.

Indonesia will get help from Singapore for haze

See also:

Jakarta accepts help to combat fires
Fri, Oct 09, 2015 - ACRID SMOG: A spokesman said the nation needs bigger planes for water-bombing and officials had been in touch with Russia, Singapore, Australia, China and Malaysia

Indonesia yesterday agreed to accept international help to combat forest and agricultural fires cloaking Southeast Asia in haze, after weeks of failed attempts to douse the blazes that have infuriated its neighbors. Officials said Singapore and Russia had already offered help and talks were under way with several other nations, an about-face after Jakarta insisted for weeks that it could tackle the crisis alone. “Hopefully, we can speed up our efforts,” Indonesian President Joko Widodo said as he set off to visit western Sumatra island, the site of many of the smog-belching blazes.

Pedestrians and a cyclist wear face masks to protect against air pollution in Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia​

For weeks, fires illegally started to clear land for plantations on Sumatra and the Indonesian part of Borneo have shrouded Singapore and Malaysia in acrid smog, worsening air quality, closing schools and forcing the cancelation of outdoor events. The blazes are an annual occurrence during the dry season, but scientists have warned this year’s are on track to be the worst ever due to an El Nino weather system that has created tinder-dry conditions in Indonesia. Jakarta has deployed about 25,000 personnel and aircraft, but the firefighters have seemed overwhelmed by the extent of the blazes.

Tensions have been rising between Jakarta and its neighbors as the haze spreads, with Singapore’s biggest supermarket chain on Wednesday withdrawing paper products made by an Indonesian-owned company, Asia Pulp & Paper, accused over the haze. Authorities had for weeks rejected offers of help from other nations, but with no sign of the fires abating, Widodo had a change of heart. “This remains a challenge for us, so we feel it is important to cooperate with countries with resources to assist us to douse the fires,” Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Arrmanatha Nasir told reporters in Jakarta.

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Water bombers show up in Indonesia to help fight rainforest fires...

International aircraft arrive to help tackle fires in Indonesia
Sun, Oct 11, 2015 - International help to assist Indonesia in combating forest and agricultural fires cloaking Southeast Asia in haze has begun to arrive on Sumatra island, an official said yesterday.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, a spokesman for Indonesia’s disaster mitigation agency, said a Bombardier amphibious aircraft and Malaysian crew arrived on Friday to begin water bombing South Sumatra. “They are currently being briefed by the disaster mitigation chief and the water bombing will start immediately after that,” Sutopo said. Fires in Sumatra and Kalimantan have been blanketing Southeast Asia for weeks, with pollution levels in both locations recorded far above hazardous levels. The haze has also forced Malaysia and Singapore to close schools and cancel outdoor events.

Tandem bicyclists ride their vehicle as the Singapore skyline is seen shrouded in haze on Friday.​

Singapore has also agreed to send a Chinook helicopter capable of pouring water from a huge hanging bucket, along with a Hercules C-130 carrying 42 firefighters from the city-state’s Civil Defence Force. The help from Singapore was scheduled to arrive in Sumatra on Friday, but was postponed until yesterday due to poor visibility at the local airport. Jakarta has deployed about 25,000 personnel and aircraft, but the firefighters have been overwhelmed by the extent of the blazes.

The Indonesian government insisted that it would not accept international help for weeks, before finally agreeing to accept the offers from several nations to combat the haze. Australia has pledged to send a Lockheed L100 Hercules Air Tanker, with Australian Minister of Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop asserting the nation’s experience in fighting bushfires.

International aircraft arrive to help tackle fires in Indonesia - Taipei Times

 

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Schools shut in Malaysia due to Indonesia smoke haze...

Malaysia again shuts schools due to Indonesia smoke haze
Oct 19, 2015: Malaysia closed schools in several states and the capital Kuala Lumpur today due to choking smoke from Indonesian slash-and-burn farming that has smothered much of Southeast Asia in smog for weeks.

Malaysia has repeatedly ordered students to stay home as a health precaution as the current smog problem, an annual dry-season occurrence, has become one of the worst in years, exacerbated by tinder-dry conditions from the El Nino weather phenomenon.

Last week it had a enjoyed a respite from the acrid grey shroud that has sparked health alerts, sent thousands to hospitals for respiratory problems, and caused the cancellation of scores of flights and some major international events across the region. Facing growing pressure, Indonesia earlier this month agreed to accept international help after weeks of failure to douse the fires that has infuriated its neighbours.

On Friday, Indonesia launched its biggest operation ever to combat the crisis, with dozens of planes and thousands of troops battling the illegally started agricultural and forest fires in its territory on the huge islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Thirty-two planes and helicopters including six aircraft from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia were deployed to back up more than 22,000 personnel on the ground.

Malaysia again shuts schools due to Indonesia smoke haze - The Times of India

 

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No let up in haze in the near future...

Haze crisis could persist into new year, say experts
October 20th, 2015 - The fires raging in forests and peatland across Indonesia, which produce the thick haze that has spread across Southeast 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 smoldering 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.

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Indonesian rainforest fires producing more carbon emissions than from U.S....

Carbon emissions from Indonesian fires exceed US’
Thu, Oct 22, 2015 - Fires raging across huge areas of Indonesia are spewing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every day than the US economy, according to estimates from global environment watchdogs.

For nearly two months, thousands of fires caused by slash-and-burn farming have suffocated vast expanses of Southeast Asia with smog, causing respiratory illnesses to soar, schools to close, and scores of flights and some international events to be canceled. 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 (WRI), using findings from the Global Fire Emissions Database, said in a recent report that, since early last month, 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 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 said. “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.” 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 neighbors Malaysia and Singapore.

Thick smoke rises on Tuesday as a fire burns in a forest at Ogan Komering Ilir Regency in Indonesia’s South Sumatra Province​

However, experts have said 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 Sumatra and Borneo are typically only brought under control by the onset of the rainy season, due to start next month. However, Herry Purnomo, a scientist at the Indonesia-based Center for International Forestry Research, this week said that climatology data indicated the rainy season might be delayed and that the fires could last until the end of the year.

Indonesia earlier this month agreed to accept international help after failing to douse the fires manually and last week launched its biggest fire-fighting push yet. Thirty-two planes and helicopters — including six aircraft from Singapore, Malaysia and Australia — were deployed to back up more than 22,000 ground personnel. Malaysia, which in recent weeks has repeatedly ordered school closures across several states as a health precaution, did so again yesterday 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.

Carbon emissions from Indonesian fires exceed US’ - Taipei Times

 

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Evacuations started in Indonesia due to rainforest fires...

Indonesia haze could lead to more evacuations
Oct. 23, 2015 -- Indonesia could evacuate more people as the thick haze from forest fires continues to choke the island nation, authorities said Thursday.

At a government news conference, Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Luhut Pandjaitan said major action is needed to deal with the haze from forest fires as weather reports forecast no rain until December and water-dropping aircraft are having little effect on fires still burning deep below peatland.

Schools are closing and more evacuations are being considered in Indonesia as the haze from fires continues to choke the country.​

Pandjaitan said following a high-level meeting with ministers and officials, plans were set to possibly evacuate babies and children to military or state-owned ships from the hardest hit areas like Sumatra and Kalimantan, where some schools have suspended classes. "There has to be a massive response to overcome this," Luhut said. "This is a humanitarian effort, we are thinking about our children. We may move them to places with safer [air pollution] levels," he said. "We cannot wait."

The fires are due to slash-and-burn methods to clear forest and peatland for farming. Despite hundreds of sorties to drop water, currently there are more than 2.740 hot spots burning across Indonesia. Smoke has spread across to parts to Thailand and Malaysia, where the air quality levels have dropped in some cases to their worst in decade. The Health Ministry will continue to monitor air pollution levels in preparation for evacuations.

Indonesia haze could lead to more evacuations

 

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Indonesia gettin' ready for haze evacuation...

Indonesia warships put on standby for haze evacuation
Sun, Oct 25, 2015 - Indonesia has put warships on standby to evacuate people affected by acrid haze from forest fires that have killed at least 10 and caused respiratory illnesses in 500,000, officials said yesterday.

For nearly two months, thousands of fires caused by slash-and-burn farming in Indonesia have choked vast expanses of Southeast Asia, forcing schools to close, and scores of flights and some international events to be canceled. Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho said the fires had killed 10 people, some fighting the blazes, while others died of respiratory illnesses or medical conditions exacerbated by the pollution. “The impact of the forest fires has caused 10 people in Sumatra and Kalimantan to die, directly and indirectly,” Nugroho said.

The figure did not include seven hikers killed in a wildfire on Java last week. The agency estimated at least 500,000 people have suffered from respiratory illness since the fires started in July and 43 million people have been affected by the widespread fires and haze on the islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan.

Nugroho said the figure was likely just the tip of the iceberg, because many people did not go to health facilities for treatment. The government has decided to send ships to haze affected provinces to evacuate victims, especially children and women, if necessary, with two warships deployed to Kalimantan on Friday. “For now, the ships will be standing by. We will begin evacuation when there is an instruction from the government,” Indonesian Navy spokesman Muhammad Zainuddin told reporters.

The government has deployed about 30 aircraft to fight the fires and for cloud seeding, with 22,000 troops on the ground to combat the blazes. The Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry said this year’s disaster was the most widespread, with more than 1.7 million hectares of land burned and six provinces severely affected by the haze.

Indonesia warships put on standby for haze evacuation - Taipei Times

 

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Polluting more than China...

How Indonesia's fires made it the biggest climate polluter
October 29, 2015 - Indonesia's forest fires have catapulted the southeast Asian nation to the top of the rankings of the world's worst global warming offenders, with daily emissions exceeding those of China on at least 14 days in the past two months.

The nation's total daily carbon dioxide emissions, including from power generation, transport and industry, exceeded those of the U.S. on 47 of the 74 days through October 28, according to Bloomberg analysis of national emissions data from the World Resources Institute in Washington and Indonesian fire- emissions data from VU University in Amsterdam.

An Indonesian activist wears a mask during a protest demanding the government take quick action to suppress the haze from wildfires in Sumatra and Borneo.​

Smog caused by the fires has generated headlines and a diplomatic flare-up between Indonesia and its neighbours in southeast Asia. It's a threat to human health and has disrupted flights in the region. At the same time, burning trees and peatlands are pumping heat-trapping gases into the atmosphere at a time when more than 190 nations are gearing up to sign a new agreement to stem global warming in Paris in December. "The problem that we see in Indonesia with essentially unrestrained deforestation going on is a bad message for the world," Bill Hare, chief executive officer of Potsdam, Germany- based policy researcher Climate Analytics, said. "If we can't really control deforestation in this region, who's going to be next? It would be a signal that countries can get away with this kind of deforestation without any real constraint."

Motorists ride on a road as thick haze from wildfires blankets the city of Pekanbaru, Riau province.​

The fires are caused by clearing woodland for paper and palm oil plantations, and have been worsened by El Nino-related dry conditions. In a satellite record that began in 1997, 2015 is the second worst year on record for emissions from Indonesian forest fires, according to Guido van der Werf, professor of Earth sciences at VU University. It's unlikely to exceed 1997, which itself was probably worse than any year pre-dating the satellite record, he said. "We have some confidence in the numbers because by using atmospheric models we can predict, based on our emissions, how elevated concentrations of gases and aerosols will be in the atmosphere," van der Werf said in an e-mail. "That corresponds reasonably well with what we actually measure in the atmosphere."

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Haze brings state of emergency...

Indonesian haze: Why it's everyone's problem
Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia are choking under a thick haze of smog caused by the annual burning of land for the production of pulp, paper and palm oil on the island of Sumatra, in western Indonesia and Borneo. The smog has become so bad the Indonesian government has declared a state of emergency in Riau province, one of the worst affected areas.

Seven executives from companies alleged to be behind the fires have been arrested, said Indonesian police chief, General Badrodin Haiti. It's a persistent, annual problem that disrupts lives, costs the governments of Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia billions of dollars, and leaves millions of people at risk of respiratory and other diseases. The land that burns is extremely carbon rich, raising Indonesia's contribution to climate change.

The problem

For 18 years, large pulp and paper and palm oil plantations have farmed the rich peatlands that run along the Sumatran coast of Indonesia and Borneo Island. Every year, existing farmland is dried out and burned for the next season's crop and to clear surrounding forests for expansion. The fires are large and hard to control and dry, CO2-rich peatlands can burn for many weeks. "Those big scale companies are also eager to expand their operations into the adjacent peatland," said Yuyun Indradi, from Greenpeace Indonesia.

"Whether they deliberately set the fire, or they can also ask people in the communities around their areas to burn the land, that's also a possibility. And then at the end, those burned areas are proposed as the expansion of their plantation." CNN meteorologist Tom Sater said there are as many as 1,143 hot spots along the Sumatran coast at present where fires are burning. This year's strong El Nino has exacerbated the problem, creating extra dry conditions that fan the flames.

The economic cost

 

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Choking haze may be doing more harm than officials have indicated...

Scientists Warn of Health Damage From Indonesia's Haze Fires
November 12, 2015 — Toxic fumes from the Indonesian fires that have spread a choking haze across Southeast Asia may be doing more harm to human and plant health than officials have indicated, scientists measuring the pollution say.

Farmers are expecting a poor harvest because plants have too little sunlight for normal photosynthesis, while government figures of half a million sickened by the smoke are only the "tip of the iceberg", said Louis Verchot, a scientist with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Meanwhile, the fires are converting carbon stored in burning peatlands into greenhouse gases, contributing to climate change. "When the sun goes up, the whole world is yellow. On the worst day, the visibility was less than 100 meters (328 ft)," said Verchot, who led a workshop on the crisis in Central Kalimantan province last month with about 20 scientists from Indonesia, the United States and Britain.

A resident rides a motorcycle on the haze-shrouded Betrix bridge in Sarolangun, on Indonesia's Jambi province​

While taking measurements on a burning 5,000-hectare (12,000-acre) plot, the scientists - equipped with gas masks and a drone - trod carefully across the ash-covered peatland to avoid calf-deep holes, hot from the smoldering underground. They are still analyzing their data, but Verchot said they had found harmful gases in the air including ozone, carbon monoxide, cyanide, ammonia, formaldehyde, nitric oxide and methane. "It irritates your eyes, it irritates your throat. Without a mask, I don't know how people live in this stuff," he told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by telephone from Jakarta.

An aerial view of smoke rising from burnt trees during haze in Indonesia's Riau province​

Many people wear simple masks that are ineffective at filtering the dangerous compounds, or no masks at all, he added. The smoke from the fires on Borneo, Sumatra and elsewhere in Indonesia has spread to neighboring Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand. Local media reported that schools in Central Kalimantan had closed for almost five weeks over the past two months, while the haze killed at least 10 people and sickened 504,000 on Borneo and Sumatra - though Verchot believes the figure is much higher. "People in rural areas seek medical attention when it's really bad. I'm pretty sure it's an underestimate. This must be the people who are seriously affected," he said.

Carbon Monoxide in Hotel

 

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3 companies shut down permanently after slash-and-burn land clearance...

Firms punished over forest fires
Wed, Dec 23, 2015 - Indonesia is punishing more than 20 companies in an unprecedented move for starting deadly forest fires that killed 19 people, a government official said yesterday.

Three companies have been shut down permanently after having their licenses revoked over their role in the blazes that choked vast expanses of southeast Asia with acrid haze and cost Indonesia US$16 billion. It is the first time the government has revoked company licenses over forest fires, an annual occurrence caused by slash-and-burn land clearance. The Indonesian Ministry of the Environment and Forestry also froze the operations of 14 companies and said they face closure if they do not meet the government’s demands over fire prevention.

An area of burned land is cordoned off by Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry officials during investigations in Rimbo Panjang, Indonesia​

Several other companies have been given a strong warning and are to be put under close supervision. “We have sanctioned 23 companies in total, ranging from administrative sanctions to license revocation, while 33 others are still in the process. They could have their licenses revoked, too, if they are found guilty,” ministry official Kemal Amas said. The ministry has been investigating 276 companies in total since the fires broke out in September. “We need firmer law enforcement so that this catastrophe does not repeat itself. It has been going on for 18 years, but nobody has learned their lesson,” Amas said. Amas said the ministry was also working hard to restore the forests and farmland destroyed in the fires. Campaigners welcomed the government’s new commitment to punish firms.

The Indonesian Forum for Environment said it was unheard of for the government to revoke licenses, as many companies previously avoided facing trial. “The minister has the courage to not only freeze the companies’ operation, but also chase the owners in a civil case. This is great and this must be guarded carefully,” Kurniawan said. “In the past, some people were named suspects, but for them to actually lose their licenses, this is the first time,” he said. More than a half-million people suffered acute respiratory infections in Indonesia because of the haze, while many in neighboring Singapore and Malaysia also fell ill.

Firms punished over forest fires - Taipei Times

 

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El Niño peaks but La Niña possible...

El Niño passes its peak while La Niña is possible this year
Fri, 19 Feb 2016 - The El Niño weather phenomenon is set to decline over the next few months but scientists say that a La Niña event could start later this year.

The El Niño weather phenomenon has reached its peak according to scientists and is set to decline over the next few months. Researchers say there is a 50:50 chance that it will be replaced by a La Niña event before the end of this summer. La Niña which involves a cooling of the Pacific Ocean, usually brings wetter conditions to Asia, Africa and Latin America. These events can typically last twice as long as an El Niño.

Warmest January on record

While the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) reports that the El Niño event has reached its apex, it is still having a significant influence on the global climate. In combination with human induced warming, global temperatures in January were the hottest for the month since records began in 1880. The data also showed the biggest divergence yet seen from the long term record. "In meteorological terms, this El Niño is now in decline. But we cannot lower our guard as it is still quite strong and in humanitarian and economic terms, its impacts will continue for many months to come," said Petteri Taalas from the WMO. "Parts of South America and East Africa are still recovering from torrential rains and flooding. The economic and human toll from drought - which by its nature is a slowly developing disaster - is becoming increasingly apparent in southern and the Horn of Africa, central America and a number of other regions," he said.

El Niño has now reached its peak according to scientists​

While the El Niño did bring some relief to drought-hit California, there have been concerns that it has tapered off in recent weeks. But in the wake of El Niño, experts believe there is a good chance that a La Niña will arrive later this year . "Most models indicate that El Niño will weaken, with a transition to neutral during the late spring or early summer 2016," according to the US Climate Prediction Centre. "Thereafter, the chance of La Niña conditions increases into the autumn," they concluded.

According to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), there is a 50% chance of a La Niña this summer. They say that there is an 80% chance of it happening by the end of this year. Not every weather centre is on the same page when it comes to predicting the appearance of the event that's also termed El Viejo (the old one) or the Anti-El Niño. Australia's Bureau of Meteorology says that based on 26 El Niño events since 1900, around half have been followed by a neutral year while 40% have been followed by La Niña. They argue that international climate models right now suggest that there won't be a follow-on La Niña this year.

Serious flooding in Australia in 2012 was attributed to La Niña​

If forecaster are a little uncertain of the arrive of a La Niña, they are all remaining tight-lipped on the more important question of how powerful it is likely to be. La Niña often improves fishing conditions in the Pacific Ocean off South America, thanks to the upwelling of cold, nutrient-rich waters. It is also associated with heavier monsoons in South-East Asia, but it has also caused significant flooding in Australia in the recent past. Another outstanding question is the impact of climate change on La Niña. A study last year suggested that extreme events were much more likely in a warming world.

El Niño passes its peak while La Niña is possible this year - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Wildfire still burning in Indonesian rainforest...

Smoke from Indonesian fires hits 'unhealthy' level in Singapore
Fri Aug 26, 2016 - Air pollution in Singapore rose to the "unhealthy" level on Friday as acrid smoke drifted over the island from fires on Indonesia's Sumatra island, the National Environment Agency (NEA) said.

Every dry season, smoke from fires set to clear land for palm oil and pulp and paper plantations in Indonesia clouds the skies over much of the region, raising concern about public health and worrying tourist operators and airlines. The 24-hour Pollution Standards Index (PSI), which Singapore's NEA uses as a benchmark, rose as high as 105 in the afternoon. A level above 100 is considered "unhealthy". The NEA said it planned a "daily haze advisory" as "a burning smell and slight haze were experienced over many areas" in Singapore. Indonesia has been criticized by its northern neighbors and green groups for failing to end the annual fires, which were estimated to cost Southeast Asia's largest economy $16 billion in 2015, and left more than half a million Indonesians suffering from respiratory ailments.

A wildfire is seen from a Ministry of Environment and Forestry helicopter over Kubu Raya, near Pontianak, West Kalimantan, Indonesia​

Indonesian President Joko Widodo has increased government efforts to tackle the haze, with police doubling numbers of fire-related arrests this year. "Forest and land fires in the Riau area are increasing," Indonesia's National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) spokesman Sutopo Nugroho said in a statement on Friday, referring to aerial surveillance of 67 hotspots and smoke from the area drifting eastward over Singapore. "The smoke billowing from the hotspot locations is quite dense," Nugroho said, adding that 7,200 personnel and several aircraft had been deployed to stop the Riau fires. Pollution levels in neighboring Malaysia were normal on Friday. Singapore has pushed Indonesia for information on companies suspected of causing pollution, some of which are listed on Singapore's stock exchange.

A helicopter from the Indonesian National Disaster Management agency (BNPB) drops water on a fire in Ogan Ilir, near Palembang, South Sumatra, Indonesia​

A forest campaigner for the environmental group Greenpeace Indonesia, Yuyun Indradi, said the government was struggling to enforce laws to prevent the drainage of peatland for plantations and the setting of fires to clear land. "It has become a challenge for the government to enforce accountability among concession holders, to enforce its directives on blocking canals, and push companies to take part in efforts to restore peatland and prevent fires," Indradi said. "Now is the time for the government to answer this challenge. It is in the law." Greenpeace said, according to its satellite information, there were 138 fires across Indonesia on Friday.

Smoke from Indonesian fires hits 'unhealthy' level in Singapore

 

[waltky]

Forest burning may have led to 100,000 premature deaths...

Indonesia haze may have led to 100,000 premature deaths, says report
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 - Haze caused by deliberately started forest fires in Indonesia may have led to 100,000 premature deaths, according to new US research.

More than 90% were in Indonesia itself, with the rest in Malaysia and Singapore, concluded the study by Harvard and Columbia universities. The pollution occurs each year, and is caused by the burning of forests and peat lands to clear them for crops. The smoke drifts across South East Asia. In 2015 it lasted several months. Indonesia has repeatedly been accused of not doing enough to tackle the problem, but says it has stepped up efforts to prevent the fires being started. The study, to be published in Environmental Research Letters, used satellite data and computer modelling of health effects to determine the statistical probability of early deaths.

A MI-17 helicopter run by the Indonesian National Disaster Mitigation Agency conducting water-bombs on a fire spot in Ogan Komering Ilir area in South Sumatra province​

It said the risk ranged from 26,300 to 174,300 deaths, with 100,300 as the average. It looked only at the health impact on adults, despite widespread reports of infant deaths, and only at the effects of PM2.5, the fine particulate matter carried by the smog which can get into lungs. Indonesia's official death toll from last year's burning - the worst since 1997 - is 19, which includes fire fighters. But its disaster management agency has said more than 43 million Indonesians were exposed to the smoke and that half a million suffered acute respiratory infections, in addition to the economic damage caused.

Academics and environmentalists have said that, even with caveats, the conclusions from the new research were a "wake-up call". "If nothing changes, this killer haze will carry on taking a terrible toll, year after year," Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Yuyun Indradi told AFP. "Failure to act immediately to stem the loss of life would be a crime." This year, the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) reports that, after a spike in early September, the number of "hotspots", indicating major fires seen by weather satellites, has fallen to below 20. Far fewer than last year.

Indonesia haze may have led to 100,000 premature deaths, says report - BBC News

 

[waltky]

Indonesia looking to cut fires and carbon emissions...

Indonesia takes new step to fight forest losses, fires
Thu, Dec 08, 2016 - Indonesia has bolstered its moratorium on converting peat swamps to plantations in a move a conservation research group said would help prevent annual fires and substantially cut the country’s carbon emissions if properly implemented.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo’s amendment to the moratorium regulation, which was issued on Monday, expands it to cover peatlands of any depth and orders companies to restore areas they have degraded. Indonesia’s move was welcomed by Norway, which in 2010 pledged US$1 billion to help the country stop cutting down its prized tropical forests, but has released little of it. As a result of the expanded regulation, Norway said it would give US$25 million to Indonesia to fund restoration of drained peatlands and another US$25 million once an enforcement and monitoring plan is ready. Draining of peat swamps by palm oil and pulp wood companies is a big contributor to destruction of tropical forests in Indonesia and the country’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The land conversion worsens annual dry season fires that release huge amounts of carbon stored in the peat. Many of the fires are deliberately set to clear land of its natural vegetation. Indonesia has made major commitments to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and protect its tropical forests, which are home to critically endangered species, but deforestation has continued largely unabated. A study in the journal Nature Climate Change estimated that as of 2012, Indonesia was clearing 840,000 hectares of forests per year, more than any other country. World Resources Institute forests expert Arief Wijaya on Tuesday said that the strengthened moratorium is particularly important for protecting Indonesia’s Papua region as the “last frontier of natural forests” still largely untouched by exploitation.

Deforestation is advanced on the Indonesian island of Sumatra and worsening in Kalimantan, which is the Indonesian part of Borneo. The institute estimated that Indonesia could achieve a 7.8 gigatonne reduction in carbon emissions over 15 years, which is equivalent to about one year of US greenhouse gas emissions. In practice, the amended regulation means that companies such as Asia Pulp & Paper, one of the world’s largest paper producers, are prohibited from expanding their use of peatlands, even if they are within their concessions, Wijaya said, adding that they must also rehabilitate drained peatlands and peatlands damaged by fires.

Last month, the company was criticized by the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, which released photographs showing one of its suppliers in South Sumatra was replanting peatlands that burned in last year’s dry season fires and were supposed to be restored. The fires from July to October last year in southern Sumatra and Kalimantan were the worst since 1997 and sent a life-threatening haze across Indonesia into Singapore, Malaysia and southern Thailand. A study by scientists from Harvard and Colombia universities estimated that fine particulate matter in the haze hastened the deaths of 100,000 people. The ministry said in a statement that one of the main causes of last year’s fires was corporate mismanagement of peatlands, which in turn led to the beefed up regulations.

Indonesia takes new step to fight forest losses, fires - Taipei Times