Sarawak eyes cloud seeding as haze worsens
Indonesia has for weeks battled wildfires that have led to school closures and thousands of people requiring medical treatment, with smoke also drifting across to Malaysia and Singapore.
Sarawak state in Malaysia is considering cloud seeding operations to combat worsening air pollution caused by haze from Indonesian wildfires. Schools have been closed and thousands have required medical treatment as smoke drifts across Malaysia and Singapore, pushing air quality to hazardous levels. Sarawak's Disaster Management Committee chairman, Douglas Uggah Embas, announced that cloud seeding could take place between September 3 and 5 if weather conditions permit.
The cloud seeding aims to replenish depleted reservoirs and dams after a prolonged dry spell. The state's satellite monitoring detected nine active hotspots in Sarawak, compared to 1,180 in Indonesia's Kalimantan region, where 15,587 hotspots were recorded between January and late August. Both Malaysia and Indonesia have warned of the impact of El Nino, a climate phenomenon that causes drier conditions and more severe fires.
Malaysia's environment minister confirmed that the Indonesian military will assist in cloud seeding operations in shared border locations, while Malaysia's National Disaster Management Agency and meteorological department are preparing schedules for these operations. Schools and residents have been urged to limit outdoor activities and wear N95 masks to protect against the harmful smoke.
Written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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