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Japan, 22-24 March 2019
Author: RFMRC SEA
Regional Fire Management Resource Center - Southeast Asia (RFMRC - SEA)
Integrated Training and Education in Forest and Land Fires Phase I, 2019 Year of RFMRC-SEA Office and Laboratory Forest and Land Fires Dept of Silviculture, (Bogor, 13 March 2019)
Bogor, 13 March 2019
Robi Deslia Waldi S.Hut
The Integrated Training and Education in Forest and Land Phase II held by the Indonesian Republican prosecutors’ education and training body aims to provide information regarding forest and land fires that occur and their enforcement.
Sarawak hit by 176 forest fires in 21 days
Sarawak hit by 176 forest fires in 21 days
– March 21, 2019 @ 4:38pm
MIRI: A total of 176 forest fire cases were reported throughout Sarawak in the span of 21 days, affecting a total coverage area of 109 hectares.
Apart from Miri, forest fires were also reported in Bintulu, Kuching, and Sarikei believed to be due to the hot and dry weather affecting the state.
A spokesman for the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Operations Centre said this marked an increase in the number of forest fire cases since early last month.
Last month, a total of 19 bush fires were reported.
“The extreme weather means that fires can easily spread and are hard to contain.
“As such, we are appealing to the people to refrain from conducting any form of open burning,” said the department in a statement.
The fires, which has so far centered around Sarawak’s northern region, has also led to reports of thick haze due to the smoke.
Link: https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2019/03/471626/sarawak-hit-176-forest-fires-21-days
Thailand’s North choking on toxic haze from fires
Thailand’s North choking on toxic haze from fires
PUBLISHED MAR 12, 2019, 11:31 AM SGT
BANGKOK (THE NATION/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – Thailand’s North was once again choking in dangerous levels of PM2.5 dust particles on Monday (March 11).
For instance, Tambon Wiang Phang Kham in Chiang Rai’s Mae Sai district cited the day’s PM2.5 peak at 128 micrograms (mcg) per cubic meter of air, more than double the Thai safety limit of 50mcg.
As of 11 am, the district also hit an Air Quality Index (AQI) score of 238, more than double the safety limit of 100.
The harmful haze was worsened by smoke from forest fires on the Myanmar side, with a satellite image on Sunday showing 1,035 hot spots in the neighboring country, and 516 in Thailand (123 of which were in the North, with only two in Chiang Rai).
With border district Mae Sai topping the North for PM2.5 levels for two consecutive days (128mcg on Monday and 80mcg on Sunday), residents were told to avoid outdoor activities.
Chiang Rai Governor Prajon Prachsakul, meanwhile, urged local officials to implement problem-solving measures and coordinated with the Thai-Myanmar Township Border Committee in an effort to get Myanmar to strictly implement measures against outdoor burning and forest fires.
According to the Thai Pollution Control Department, PM2.5 particulates in the nine northern provinces ranged from 29mcg to 117mcg as of 9 am on Monday.
Air pollution in Tambon Wiang Phang Kham stood at 117mcg at 9 am and further worsened to 128mcg at 11 am.
Muang Chiang Mai, meanwhile, was once again enveloped in a haze, with readings of 58-70mcg after a period of better air since March 5.
The areas with beyond-safe PM2.5 levels included the tambons of Jong Kham (81mcg) in Mae Hong Son’s Muang district; Nai Wiang (81mcg) in Nan’s Muang district and Huai Kon (77mcg) in Chalerm Phra Kiat district; and Chang Pheuk (70mcg) and Sri Phum (58mcg) in Chiang Mai’s Muang district.
Beyond-safe levels were also experienced in tambons Phra Baht (64 mcg) in Muang district |and Ban Dong (75mcg) in Mae Mo district of Lampang; Wiang (56mcg) in Chiang Rai’s Muang |district; Na Chak (66mcg) in Phrae’s Muang district; and Ban Tom (67mcg) in Phayao’s Muang district.
Phayao – in the midst of combating multiple outbreaks of a forest fire – reported that officials had put out a fire that damaged 16 hectares in tambon Dongjen of Phukamyao district, which stemmed from villagers lighting fires while poaching for forest products.
Two Bangkok Airways flights from Chiang Mai to Mae Hong Son – PG251 at 9.20am and PG352 at 10.35am – were canceled on Monday due to visibility problems.
Mae Hong Son’s PM2.5 level stood at 91mcg, with the AQI level at 201 as of 11 am.
So far, four flights have been canceled this month due to haze.
A satellite image taken at 1.54am on Monday showed Mae Hong Son province as having 115 hot spots, especially in the three districts of Pai (33 hot spots), Pang Mapha (30) and Muang (29).
These were contributing to a dangerous PM2.5 level of 81mcg, although Srisangwal Hospital had not yet detected any unusual increase in the number of respiratory patients.
Fire burns almost 1,700 hectares of land, forests in Riau as haze spreads
Fire burns almost 1,700 hectares of land, forests in Riau as haze spreads
PUBLISHED MAR 10, 2019, 8:42 PM SGT
JAKARTA (THE JAKARTA POST/ASIA NEWS NETWORK) – A forest fire in Indonesia’s Riau province that has been burning for more than a week has expanded as haze spreads to more cities in the area.
The Riau Disaster Mitigation Agency (BPBD Riau) revealed that, as of Sunday (March 10), the fire had spread across nearly 1,700 hectares of land from a little over 1,100 ha on Feb 28, causing smoke in Pekanbaru and Dumai.
BPBD Riau acting head Ahmadsyah Harrofie said Bengkalis regency was currently the worst affected area, as quoted by tempo.co.
Forest fires are still spreading throughout Dumai, Meranti Islands and five other regencies. Ahmadsyah said the agency’s task force was continuing its attempt to extinguish fires in all areas.
Riau Forest Rescue Network (Jikalahari) coordinator Made Ali added that 63 out of 139 hot spots this week could potentially further ignite a fire.
However, he said that the air condition in Pekanbaru remained “good”.
According to the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), the air pollution standard index (ISPU) in Pekanbaru and Dumai is still at an “acceptable” level.
Of the world’s 100 most polluted cities, 99 are in Asia
Of the world’s 100 most polluted cities, 99 are in Asia
The world’s filthiest air is in India, but weighted by population it’s worse in Bangladesh. China’s notoriously unbreathable air is improving, while Jakarta is in danger of out-smogging Beijing, data from air monitoring stations all over the world has revealed.
Of the 100 most polluted cities in the world in 2018, 99 were in Asia, according to a global report on annual air pollution levels by Beijing-based monitoring firm AirVisual and environmental group Greenpeace published on Thursday.
Half of the world’s 50 most polluted cities are in India, and 22 are in China, with Pakistani and Bangladeshi cities making up the rest. In the top 100 smoggiest cities, 33 are in India, and 57 are in China.
The world’s largest country, however, has seen improvements in air quality in 33 of its dirtiest cities, thanks to emissions regulations and extensive air quality monitoring. Another 24 Chinese cities saw smoggier skies in 2018.
Eleven Indian cities in the top 100 have welcomed cleaner skies this year, while air quality has become smoggier in eight of them, where a cocktail of bad air from traffic, industry, and agricultural and waste burning contributes to the haze.
However, 14 of India’s most polluted cities had no data for 2017.
Gurgaon, also known as Gurugram, a city southwest of India’s capital, New Delhi, has the world’s most polluted air, with the annual average level of PM2.5—small particles considered the most dangerous to human health—more than 13 times higher than the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) air quality guidelines of 10μg/m3.
Average concentrations of pollution in Chinese cities fell by 12 percent from 2017 to 2018.
Yan Boquillod, director of air quality monitoring at AirVisual, told Eco-Business that the report’s standout air quality performer was China’s capital.
“Beijing has seen a dramatic drop in air pollution in recent years, particularly in the winter months, largely as a result of factory closures,” he said.
Beijing has seen PM2.5 levels drop from ‘unhealthy’ to the ‘unhealthy for sensitive groups’ between 2017 and 2018.
Four years ago, an air quality reading of around 200 µg/m³ was accepted as “normal” in Beijing, noted Boquillod, who is based in Beijing. In 2018, pollution dropped to roughly a fifth of that level.
However, Beijing air is still almost six times over WHO’s guidelines, and in February this year saw PM2.5 levels climb to a five-year high, up 28 percent year on year.
Hold your breath, you’re in Jakarta
In Southeast Asia, Jakarta registered the most polluted air in the sub-region last year. The Indonesian capital saw air quality worsen by 53 percent in a year, one of the biggest drops in a report that covered 3,000 cites all over the world.
Jakarta’s 2018 pollution levels, four and half times over WHO’s a target, were just 12 percent lower than in Beijing’s. The city, which has more coal-fired power stations near it than any capital city in the world and notoriously bad road congestion, hosted the Asian Games in 2018, and athletes collapsed due to the smog.
Hanoi, in the industrial north of Vietnam, is Southeast Asia’s second most polluted city, while three out of the five most polluted places in Southeast Asia are in Thailand.
Yeb Sano, the executive director, Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said that burning fossil fuels—coal, oil, and gas—was the most common culprit of global air pollution, which results in an estimated seven million premature deaths and costs the world’s economy US$225 billion a year.
Sano pointed out that climate change was making air pollution worse, by changing atmospheric conditions and exacerbating forest fires.
“Local and national governments can help tackle the effects of air pollution by providing adequate monitoring and reporting infrastructure,” Sano noted.
“What we need to see is our leaders thinking seriously about our health and the climate by looking at a fair transition out of fossil fuels while telling us clearly the level of our air quality, so that steps can be taken to tackle this health and climate crisis,” he said.
Link: https://www.eco-business.com/news/of-the-worlds-100-most-polluted-cities-99-are-in-asia/
South Asia has four most polluted countries
South Asia has four most polluted countries
Bangladesh, Pakistan and India rate badly; Jakarta and Hanoi were SE Asia’s most polluted cities in 2018
MARCH 5, 2019 By ASIA TIMES STAFF
South Asia is home to the world’s four most polluted countries – Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, and Afghanistan – and the region also has 18 of the top 20 most polluted cities.
Greenpeace released the latest air pollution data today with a warning that seven million people will die around the world over the next year because of air pollution. The economic cost is also tipped to be enormous: US$225 billion in lost labor and “trillions” in medical costs.
The latest data compiled in the IQAir AirVisual 2018 World Air Quality Report and interactive World’s most polluted cities ranking, prepared in collaboration with Greenpeace Southeast Asia, reveals levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) in the air in cities and countries in 2018.
The positive news was that air quality in Beijing has got better. Average concentrations in cities in China fell by 12% from 2017 to 2018, and Beijing was the 122nd most polluted city in the world last year. However, the number of Chinese cities with high pollution is still substantial.
Jakarta and Hanoi were the two most polluted cities in Southeast Asia, and Jakarta could soon overtake Beijing in the rankings.
In other parts of the world, 10 cities in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo, plus four in Turkey had PM2.5 levels that were three times greater than the World Health Organization guidelines.
Climate change impact
Air quality in cities in the US and Canada were made dramatically worse by historic wildfires between August and November. This showed that “climate change is making the effects of air pollution worse by changing atmospheric conditions and amplifying forest fires,” Greenpeace said in a statement.
“The key driver of climate change – burning fossil fuels – is also the main driver of air pollution, globally. Therefore, tackling climate change will also greatly improve our air quality,” it said.
Meanwhile, hundreds of millions of people in Africa and South America were left in the dark because they do not have adequate equipment to monitor air quality.
Frank Hammes, the head of IQAir, said: “The 2018 World Air Quality Report is based on .. data from tens of thousands of air quality monitoring stations around the world.
“Now everyone with a cellphone has free access to this data via the AirVisual platform. This has also created a demand for air quality monitoring in cities or regions where no public data is available. Communities and organizations from California to Kabul are supplementing governmental monitoring efforts with their own low-cost air quality monitoring networks, and are giving everyone access to more hyper-local information.”
‘Trillions in medical costs’
The executive director of Greenpeace South East Asia, Yeb Sano, said: “Air pollution steals our livelihoods and our futures, but we can change that. In addition to human lives lost, there’s an estimated global cost of $225 billion in lost labor and trillions in medical costs. This has enormous impacts, on our health and on our wallets.
“We want this report to make people think about the air we breathe because when we understand the impacts of air quality on our lives, we will act to protect what’s most important.”
“The common culprit across the globe is the burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil, and gas – worsened by the cutting down our forests,” Sano said. “What we need to see is our leaders thinking seriously about our health and the climate by looking at a fair transition out of fossil fuels while telling us clearly the level of our air quality, so that steps can be taken to tackle this health and climate crisis.”
Link: https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/03/article/south-asia-has-four-most-polluted-countries/
Forest Fires in Indonesia a Decade Ago May Have Stunted The Growth of Children Today
Forest Fires in Indonesia a Decade Ago May Have Stunted The Growth of Children Today CARLY…
Fire destroys 8,000sq.m of forest
Fire destroys 8,000sq.m of forest
Last update 12:25 | 05/12/2018
VietNamNet Bridge – Nearly 8,000sq.m of the forest was destroyed after a fire broke out in Cua Ong Ward, Cam Pha Town in northern Quang Ninh Province on Tuesday.
Local authorities mobilized hundreds of local people, firefighters and soldiers to help extinguish the blaze.
As it is the dry season, the flames spread quickly. The location of the fire on top of a hill made it difficult to bring the flames under control.
The fire started at around 9.30am and it took more than an hour to extinguish the blaze.
The investigation is underway to find out the cause of the fire.
In October, the Viet Nam Administration of Forestry (VAF) urged localities nationwide to take drastic measures to prevent and control forest fires, given the hot and dry weather in the country.
Annually, the northern and central provinces are often hit by some 12 hot spells. This year, it is forecast that fewer hot periods will occur, and they will only last for a few days. However, it is likely that a hot spell, as severe as that in 2017, will hit Vietnam, according to the National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Centre.
In the 2017 summer season, Vietnam was hit by 15 hot spells on a large scale. In some localities, the temperature was recorded upwards of 41 to 42 degrees Celsius.
Link: https://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/society/213964/fire-destroys-8-000sq-m-of-forest.html