2013 Southeast Asian haze

A NASA satellite image of the haze on 19 June 2013.
The extent of the haze as of 19 June 2013.[1]
The extent of the haze as of 23 June 2013.[1]

The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was a haze crisis that affected several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore[2] and Southern Thailand, mainly during June and July 2013. The haze period was caused by large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra and Borneo. Satellite imagery from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites showed that the haze was mainly due to smoke from fires burning in Riau province, Indonesia.[3]

The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was notable for causing record high levels of pollution in Singapore and several parts of Malaysia. The 3-hour Pollution Standards Index in Singapore reached a record high of 401 on 21 June 2013, surpassing the previous record of 226 set during the 1997 Southeast Asian Haze.[4] On 23 June, the Air Pollution Index (API) in Muar, Johor spiked to 746 at 7 a.m. which was almost 2.5 times above the minimum range of the Hazardous level thus resulting in the declaration of emergency in Muar and Ledang (which was afterwards lifted on 25 June in the morning), leaving the towns in virtual shutdown.[5][6]

  1. ^ a b Data from: Singapore National Environment Agency Archived 21 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Haze in Singapore hits PSI all-time record high of 371". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
  3. ^ "Smoke Engulfs Singapore". NASA Earth Observatory. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 21 June 2013.
  4. ^ "Singapore haze hits record high from Indonesia fires". BBC News. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 19 January 2014.
  5. ^ "Malaysia declares state of emergency in Muar and Ledang". Channel News Asia. 23 June 2013. Archived from the original on 26 June 2013. Retrieved 23 June 2013.
  6. ^ "Haze: State of emergency lifted in Muar and Ledang, schools reopen" Archived 30 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine, The Star, Malaysia. 25 June 2013.