The 2015 Southeast Asian haze was an air pollution crisis affecting several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia (especially its islands of Sumatra and Borneo), Malaysia, Singapore, southern Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines.
The haze affected Indonesia from at least late June, to the end of October, turning into an international problem for other countries in September. It was the latest occurrence of the Southeast Asian haze, a long-term issue that occurs in varying intensity during every dry season in the region. It was caused by forest fires resulting from slash-and-burn practices, principally on the Indonesian islands of Sumatra and Kalimantan, which then spread quickly in the dry season.
On 4 September 2015, the Indonesian National Board for Disaster Management stated that six Indonesian provinces had declared a state of emergency due to the haze; these were Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan, Central Kalimantan and South Kalimantan. On 14 September, a state of emergency was again declared in Riau, this time by the Indonesian government. Thousands of residents of Pekanbaru, Riau's capital, fled to the nearby cities of Medan and Padang. On 24 October, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit a record high of 1801, recorded in the province of Central Kalimantan.
More than 28 million people in Indonesia alone were affected by the crisis, and more than 140,000 reported respiratory illness. According to a 2016 Harvard-Columbia University study, the haze caused more than 100,000 additional deaths, most of them (> 90,000) in Indonesia.Koplitz et al.: Public health impacts of the severe haze in Equatorial Asia in September–October 2015: demonstration of a new framework for informing fire management strategies to reduce downwind smoke exposure. Environmental Research Letters Vol. 11, No. 9, 2016, . But later, the claim was refuted by Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysian health authorities. The haze caused by the Indonesian forest fires has been shown to increase haze-related illnesses, such as upper respiratory illnesses and acute conjunctivitis, in Singapore.
The Indonesian government estimated that the haze crisis would cost it between 300 and 475 trillion rupiah (up to US$35 billion or S$47 billion) to mitigate. School closures due to the haze were implemented in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore; these affected nearly four million students in Malaysia alone. Among the events disrupted or even cancelled due to the haze were the 2015 FINA Swimming World Cup in Singapore and the Kuala Lumpur Marathon in Malaysia.
Heavy rains in Sumatra and Kalimantan in the last days of October 2015 significantly reduced the size and number of fires, and improved the air quality in most affected areas. In turn, the NEA of Singapore stopped issuing haze advisories from 15 November 2015.
Background
Indonesia has struggled for years to contain forest fires, especially on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. In September 2014, Indonesia ratified the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. It is the last ASEAN country to do so. The agreement calls on Indonesia to take steps to solve the problem through its own efforts or through international co-operation, or else face legal action based on the impact of the haze on its south-east Asian neighbours. In 2014, Singapore also passed laws that allow it to prosecute people and firms that contribute to the haze. In early August 2015, although Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar, and Vietnam met to discuss the haze problem, Indonesia did not join the talks.
Causes The fires are caused by firms and farmers using slash-and-burn practices as a inexpensive means to clear their land of unwanted vegetation. Sumatra and Kalimantan possess large areas of peatland, which is highly combustible during dry season. Peat, which is made up of layers of dead vegetation and other organic matter, contributed heavily to carbon emissions because of the substance's high density and carbon content. The haze was particularly severe in 2015 due to the El Niño phenomenon, which caused drier conditions, causing the fires to spread more.
Research published in the Environmental Research Letters stated that 59% of fire emissions in Sumatra and 73% in Kalimantan originated from "outside timber and palm oil concession boundaries". Environmental rights activists added that palm oil activities were still involved in the burning. Firstly, land clearing by burning is cheap and is more often chosen by companies than any other land-clearing method. Secondly, most companies want to avoid spending money on reforestation. Any company which obtains a license for forest lands must replant them from a fund provided by the government. Most companies do not replant, and to avoid detection, they burn the land. Thirdly, the companies revitalise palm plantations by cutting or burning old palm trees that are no longer productive. The regulation stipulates that such burning must be done on a bed of concrete to avoid spreading the fire, but to reduce costs, most companies do not do this.
Countries affected At least six of the ten countries in the ASEAN region have been affected by the haze: southern Thailand, Vietnam, and most parts of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. The haze affecting Cambodia and Cebu in the Philippines was also suspected to have arisen from Indonesian rather than local sources.
On 29 September 2015, the IBTimes published interactive before-and-after photos that showed the dramatically reduced visibility in Singapore and Indonesia due to haze.
The Global Fire Emissions Database reported that the 2015 Indonesian fires had generated around 600 million tonnes of greenhouse gases, an amount described as 'roughly equivalent to Germany's entire annual output'. NASA said that the 2015 haze crisis could become the worst one recorded in the region, possibly outstripping the 1997 crisis, which cost an estimated nine billion US dollars.
Brunei Smoke from forest fires in Kalimantan, blown by prevailing south-westerly winds, brought hazy conditions to Brunei. A duty forecaster at the Brunei Meteorological Department, Nurulinani Haji Jahari, said that heavy thunderstorms would do little to relieve the hazy conditions because westerly winds were still expected to continue bringing more smoke from Kalimantan and Sumatra. On 15 September, the Tutong District recorded an all-time-high Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) reading of 68; followed by Belait, with 67; Brunei-Muara, with 65; and Temburong, with 48. The Bruneian public were advised by authorities to drink plenty of water and seek medical assistance if experiencing smoke-related symptoms. Authorities also warned against any open burning or other activities that might worsen the haze.
Cambodia Phnom Penh suffered from haze, and its Cambodian Ministry of the Environment suspected that fires set by plantation owners in Indonesia might be to blame. Uncertainty of the source remained since Indonesia released little relevant information.
Indonesia
The 2015 haze affected Indonesia from at least late June, with the municipality of Dumai (in the province of Riau on the island of Sumatra) reporting haze beginning 28 June. The problem persisted for months.
As of 7 October 2015, more than 140,000 Indonesians had reported respiratory illnesses in the haze-affected areas. By 15 September 2015, around 25,834 were suffering from respiratory infection, 538 having pneumonia, 2,246 suffering from skin irritation, and 1,656 suffering from eye irritation. The haze blanketing the whole of Sumatra island and parts of Kalimantan hampered tourism, aviation and maritime activities as well as the Indonesian economy. A state of emergency was declared in the province of Riau, one of the worst-affected by the haze. In Riau's capital, Pekanbaru, authorities ordered the closing of schools to prevent pupils from being exposed to the haze, and thousands were forced to flee the city. Flight cancellations were reported daily in Pekanbaru as well as in Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, due to poor visibility.
The Indonesian Agency for Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics, which considers a pollution index over 350 "hazardous", reported on 22 September 2015 that the index in Palangkaraya in Central Kalimantan hit 1,986 and the index for Pontianak in West Kalimantan reached 706. These readings surpassed quintuple and double the official "hazardous" level, respectively. In late September, the province of Central Kalimantan measured a record high of 2,300 on Indonesia's PSI. On 2 October, Central Kalimantan was still experiencing a very high PSI of 1,801, such that firefighting helicopters were unable to water-bomb certain areas due to low visibility.
By mid-late October the burning hotspots, increasing sharply in number, had even spread to Indonesia's Papua region. The Terra Aqua satellite also discovered 63 hotspots in Maluku and 17 in North Maluku. 1,545 hotspots were detected in Indonesia, although the exact number couldn't be ascertained as the haze covering the region was too thick. The Nusa Tenggara Islands also had hotspots: around 67 in East Nusa Tenggara and 25 in West Nusa Tenggara. Dozens of flights were cancelled in Timika, West Papua. Both the Moluccas Islands and Sulawesi were covered by haze. In Sulawesi, around 800 hotspots were discovered by BPBD, a disaster mitigation agency. There were 57 hotspots in West Sulawesi, 151 in South Sulawesi, 361 in Central Sulawesi, 126 in Southeast Sulawesi, 47 in Gorontalo and 59 in North Sulawesi. The city of Palu was covered by haze from nearby Kalimantan, causing some flight delays.
In Java, forest fires burned in West Java and Mount Merapi, Central Java. A forest fire, which trapped hikers and killed at least seven of them on Mount Lawu in Magetan Regency in East Java, was later reported to have been caused by a bonfire. This incident caused local areas to be evacuated. The haze in Palangkaraya was so thick that it turned the air yellow and exceeded the 'dangerous' threshold by 10 times. The annual parliamentary meeting was interrupted, as the smoke from outside entered the room, causing all of the politicians to use masks and tissues in the room. Most schools in the affected area were closed until further notice due to the haze. In Riau and Palembang, students were advised to go to school only twice a week. Sometimes they did not even go to school for a whole week due to the haze, causing wide concern among parents and government officials. At least ten companies, seven of which are foreign companies, were declared as the prime suspects for fire in Sumatra and Kalimantan. Two of the companies' certificates were suspended by the government. Indonesian president Joko Widodo ordered all hospitals and puskesmas (community health clinics) to be open for 24 hours. On 20 October, there were 825 new hotspots in Sumatra, with the visibility in Riau deteriorating to 50 meters. Around 66 flights in Pekanbaru were cancelled. At noon, the haze worsened as the air became yellow. The Government of Riau, later made a statement that the haze crisis has killed their citizens slowly by suffocating them.
On 21 October, it was reported that the number of people with respiratory problems had risen to 78,829 in Riau alone. Many reported they suffered from dizziness and sore eyes. Most of the victims killed by the haze were students and newborn babies. A nine-year-old third-grade student died because of the smoke and the doctors and nurses who tried to save the child reported that the child's lungs were fully filled with smoke. A 15-month-old baby also died in Jambi. The photos of the dead body, taken with the baby's mother, went viral on Facebook. The haze crisis also interrupted the search for a missing Eurocopter EC130 with five people on board in Lake Toba. The sole survivor reported that the cause of the crash was the haze.
Malaysia