The cause of haze phenomenon and the impact to our health
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Sir, i am the student of information studies want to know more about the haze phenomenon and what is the effect of haze to our health. Can you please give some detail explanation of how the phenonemeon of haze happen and what is the effect of haze to our life.
VEGETATION FIRES AND SMOKE HAZE IN INDONESIA – A CHRONIC PROBLEM
Ivan P. Anderson (formerly with the EU-Forest Fire Prevention and Control Project, Palembang). E-mail: ivan.anderson@virgin.net
Flooding today – fire, earthquake and volcanic eruptions tomorrow. Such is Indonesia’s environmental lot. Flooding may be today’s big media story but it is reliably predictable that fire and smoke, mainly the latter, will be in the national news before long, whether or not El Niño 2002 materialises.
However, when reporting does occur in Indonesia it is usually only after airports close because they are blanketed in smoke (e.g. Pekanbaru and Palangkaraya last year) or Singapore/Malaysia make official complaints to the Indonesian Government because of ekspor asap from peat fires in Sumatra.
What action is being taken to deal with this problem? In January, regional authorities (Governors and Bupati) in fire prone areas of Sumatra and Kalimantan were requested by the Vice President, as the Head of the National Disaster Management Coordinating Board, to prepare a comprehensive programme for controlling fires. They were also urged to take stern action and sanctions against those guilty of causing forest and land fires. At the international level, and after four years’ planning and drafting, the ASEAN Transboundary Haze Agreement will be signed in June to reaffirm a commitment among member countries to fight haze.
There is clearly agreement at the highest levels to address the problems that vegetation and peat fires cause. But unfortunately this rarely, if ever, filters down through the various levels of bureaucracy and vested interest that complicate Indonesian society to materialise as effective action on the ground.
Self-regulation within the agro-industrial sector is a way forward and formation of the Haze Prevention Group (www.hazeprevention.com)is the first serious attempt by some of the mainly pulpwood and oil palm companies to tackle the fires and haze that they are often accused of causing, although rarely prosecuted for initiating.
Using satellite data, mainly from NOAA and SPOT, detection and monitoring of vegetation fires and smoke haze affecting Sumatra and Kalimantan are now routine and highly effective procedures. In each year between the major drought and fire years associated with El Niño there are short periods of a few weeks when smoke haze events occur in Sumatra and Kalimantan. All these mini-haze events are associated with burning in peatland, whether forested or not, with Riau and Central Kalimantan being the provinces most seriously affected*.
Riau peat fires have been burning continuously since early January this year but are only now receiving attention in the local papers (Riau Pos, 9 February 2002 - Ribuan Hektare Hutan dan Kebun Musnah Terbakar. Api Terus Menjalar dan Mencemaskan (Thousands of hectares of forest and plantation destroyed by burning. Fire continues to spread and cause concern). The haze is affecting the towns of Dumai and Duri in Riau but not Malaysia/Singapore since this region is still under the influence of the North-East Monsoon. If the winds had been blowing from the opposite direction, as they will, starting about April, then the publicity would no doubt have been much greater.
Two lessons can be drawn from these relatively small but chronic fires that produce a great deal of smoke. (a) They should be tackled and suppressed in immediate response to initial detection and reporting by the monitoring agencies in Indonesia and Singapore and (b) if these mini-haze occurrences cannot be prevented (preferably) or controlled (other than by the onset of rain) then there is no hope when the next severe El Niño drought arrives. During El Niño years, the areas affected by severe drought are likely to include the peat-rich provinces of South Sumatra, Jambi and East Kalimantan – all very badly damaged by the wildfires of 1997-98.
Other points that have been made many times before but bear repeating are:
With respect to Sumatra, there are very few sizeable blocks of primary lowland forest left and nearly all of these are peat swamp forest in Riau and Jambi. As a reminder of their fragility after disturbance, some quarter million hectares of peat swamp forest subject over many years to HPH (Forest Concession Right) logging in South Sumatra Province were destroyed by fire during 1997. Apart from Berbak National Park, these last remnants of rain forest are unprotected. Since the dryland Dipterocarp forests of lowland Sumatra have more or less disappeared, the previously disregarded peat swamp forests in both coastal and inland locations have become the focus for logging (almost all illegal) and conversion to plantations – both activities are linked to fire occurrence in an ecosystem where fire under natural conditions is hardly known.
All the peat swamp forest in Riau and Jambi is under considerable pressure from smallholder migrant, large-scale commercial, the oil/gas industry and Government activities. Competition for access to land and forest resources is increasing. Most of the remaining primary forest has been earmarked by Government for conversion to estate plantations, mainly for industrial pulpwood.
Clearing and draining peat swamp forest for plantations, whether for Acacia sp. pulpwood, oil palm, coconuts or rice, may be an attractive financial enterprise in the short-term but there is little evidence that the results will be sustainable in the long-term, particularly on the scale at which it is being practised along the eastern seaboard of Sumatra. Unsustainable kinds of land use are behind most of the haze problems in Indonesia. These will continue until radical changes are made to the way peatland is managed.
Be sceptical of claims that it is just local people (the ‘slash and burn’ farmer) destroying the peat forest. Small-scale farmers sensibly avoid deep peat areas, unless they are put there as part of government schemes such as the now derelict Mega Rice Project in Central Kalimantan or, in the case of West Kalimantan, local government attempts to resettle displaced Madurese in peat swamp schemes. When the local community is involved, it appears to be a collaborative arrangement with estate companies based on a production-sharing agreement.
Waiting for neighboring countries (e.g.- Malaysia etc), to complaint before action being taken is not fair to them neighbors, by the time Malaysians do make complaint, the fire is already too deep in the peat soil. Do Malaysia has to send its firefighters over there to help, again? Not this time, hopefully... Indonesia has thousands of unemployed people over there who can help, obviously. Instead of flocking into Malaysia for jobs, the people, with the help of the government of course, should work on their peat soil in a productive way such as developing the peat soil into industrial site or plantation area or any other useful way while preventing burning on peat soil. (May be Indonesian head of the government should spent more time thinking on how to develop the country more and at the same time try to create job' opportunities instead of spending too much time on political issues and power). Helps from other countries or the so called developed countries should be sought after in trying to solve problem of peat soil' treatment, if needed. Think of something for goodness sake !
Forest fire prevention conference was held in Malaysia last June 2002, surely the haze issue was raised, an agreement was signed. Now we want to see the outcome. If El Nino does come back like in 1997, if prediction of July - September 2002 dry season was true... hopefully no single finger will be pointed to Indonesia. Some kind of haze prevention plan should be ready to be activated this year (if the 1997' experience was learned). Total ban on open burning should be carried out through out the country during the dry season. Action should be taken and the fire starter should be punished by law.
Do something before the situation get worst for the sake of the people (neighbors alike) and the environment too.
Exactly, I am with you Sweet Doe!
It seems that Indonesia is the culprit again, August 2002 is hazy again... but not as bad as in 1997 (yet).
Hopefully, all the 500 000 (reported) illegal Indonesian's immigrants (in Malaysia) should go back to their country and try to work their lands, productively so to speak... Burning of Malaysia's flag by the Indonesians as a way to show protest against Malaysian's Government new imposed illegal immigrants' law (whipping and jail sentencing) won't feed their mouth ! The Indonesian's Government should think harder to curb this immigrants from crossing over to Malaysia by creating more job opportunities, develop the peat soil land, create the environment for more overseas investment... etc...
Indonesia should revised their law concerning open burning wrong doing. Cut and burn culture should be stopped. You'd be surprised how much dioxin is released to the atmosphere from open burning activities ! You tell me !
Action please... and good luck Indonesia! Save our environment.
Some may have noticed a section Muruga has dedicated here to the 7 year struggle to bring to bear on large wildfires the Russian airtanker, by far the largest in the world.
For an update (last published piece in English) on this campaign, see Johnson's Russia List, Feb 13 edition at item #13. Johnson's is located at http://www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/
It is believed that with removal of barriers to entry to the US market for this immensely powerful firefighting service, other parts of the world afflicted with the scourge of wildfire may benefit from its services.
We are an ecology organization in Serbia, and we have a big smog problem. Our community is little but very polluted, and geographical location does not help much since we are surrounded by hills. We read that Russians have a technology of artificial cyclones which can help in solving smog problem. Malesian minister of ecology, science and technology, Law Hieng Ding, said Malasia plans to use this Russian tecnology to get rid of the smog caused by forest fires. Does anyone know where we could find more info about these artificial cyclones? Thank you for your help.
phd dissertation on haze management; comments needed on a chapter about haze
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i am a filipino phd student of the international christian university in tokyo, japan. i am writing dissertation tentatively entitled: "regional environmental governance: a study on the asean regional haze action plan."
i may be able to finish writing a chapter of my dissertation about haze at the end of this month (march 2001). i need a critique to review the said chapter. anybody who would like to volunteer to read and critic my work? i can send it via e-mail. thanks.
I'll do my best (on some aspects and not others) but Muruga would be best. You may want to run it quickly by someone at Global Fire Monitorong Center to see if they have time for your work.
Sorry I'm here so late. Perhaps better late than never.
This web site continues to remain a superb resource. Thank you for keeping it so up to date.
This is to advise you that a proposed new kind of research program on the relationship of severe air pollution and human health is now undergoing peer review.
If this research endeavor is approved, any significant findings that are published in peer-reviewed journals will be sent to this site for public distribution.
Forrest M. Mims III
Geronimo Creek Observatory, Texas, USA
I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that Dr. James E. Hansen has quoted a France, Austria and Switzerland study on health and black carbon aerosols.
I'm not sure Hansen fully quoted the source for it it but I'm pretty sure that would be among the ones your people would have reviewd while building your scope of work.
Need info on Indo Gov's response 2 fires. PLEASE !
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I am a student at Coventry University in the UK currently studying the forest fires of 1997/8 in Indonesia. I would be grateful if anyone could send me any relevant information concerning the Indonesian Governments response, agencies involved and any future recomendations to reduce the impact of such fires. Many thanks.
You might want to refer to this article by Brauer M. and Jamal H.H. 1998. Fires in Indonesia : crisis and reaction. Environ. Sci. & Technol. News, 32(17): 404A-407A.
Just remembered another good reference for the Indonesian fires : Glover D. and Jessup T.(eds.). 1998. Indonesia's fires and haze : The cost of catastrophe. Singapore : Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.
Hello, i just read your message nedding info on government responses to the forest fires. I'm not sure when you were doing this but i happened to bump in to it now, desparately trying to get useful information for a paper I am doing myself. I am going to study the role of the government in these fires and the effects on indigenous peoples. I'm currently enrolled in a disaster studies class. We're dealing a lot with the term vulnerability. So my goal is mainly to look at the vulnerability of these indigenous groups. Moreover I want to try and "prove" how this Indonesian disaster is largely man made. I understand if you don't reply my request. But if you think you can give me some useful titles or links I would greatly appreciate that. If it's not too much effort please send me an email. THanks very much,
regards Tessa from AMsterdam University, the Netherlands.
Dear Doctor,
I am creating a global Medical Website called emergingworlds.com which will have chat rooms for Drs. world wide and audio interviews with researchers, scientists, Drs. etc...We will be going on line in February or March. We like your information. I personally have 17 active viruses -9 coxsackie a&b, EBV, CMV, HHV 6,7,8,and four IgG titers of airborne chlamydias. Please link with us to become one of our "in the field" connections.
Dear Doctor,
I am creating a global Medical Website called emergingworlds.com which will have chat rooms for Drs. world wide and audio interviews with researchers, scientists, Drs. etc...We will be going on line in February or March. We like your information. I personally have 17 active viruses -9 coxsackie a&b, EBV, CMV, HHV 6,7,8,and four IgG titers of airborne chlamydias. Please link with us to become one of our "in the field" connections.