Asean climate monitor issues highest alert level over toxic haze

The Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC) in Singapore has issued its highest alert level, Alert Level 3, over the toxic haze caused by ongoing fires in Indonesia. This alert system, ranging from zero to three, is activated when there is a high risk of severe transboundary haze in the region. The ASMC has observed significant and persistent hotspot activities with widespread moderate to dense smoke haze, affecting two or more consecutive days, alongside dry weather and winds blowing haze towards Southeast Asian neighbors.

This is not the first time the ASMC has issued such an alert; similar alerts have been issued on August 26 and March 27 this year. The prolonged haze has disrupted life in large parts of Southeast Asia, leading to school closures and a spike in respiratory complaints. Singapore has identified seven Indonesian companies responsible for the fires and issued warnings to them, though they acknowledge that the situation may yet worsen.

Four people died in East Java’s Bromo Tengger Semeru National Park while fighting the blazes, and two others suffered serious burns. The forestry department warned that forest and land fire extinguishing is a high-risk operation, emphasizing the importance of personnel safety. There has been a significant increase in hotspots in six "priority provinces," with 615 hotspots detected.

Brief written by urgent.news from South China Morning Post's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.