{
  "id": 15817965,
  "title": "Why won’t the rain wash away Malaysia’s haze? Experts explain what’s keeping the smoke coming",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/why-wont-the-rain-wash-away-malaysias-haze-experts-explain-whats",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-20T23:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Malay Mail",
    "slug": "malay-mail",
    "url": "https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2026/10/21/why-wont-the-rain-wash-away-malaysias-haze-experts-explain-whats-keeping-the-smoke-coming/239859"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Malaysia, especially the Klang Valley, has been battling heavy rain and thunderstorms recently, but the haze continues to plague the region. Meteorologist Mohd Hisham Mohd Anip of the Malaysian Meteorological Department explains that the haze is caused by smoke from fires in neighboring Indonesia, which is carried into Malaysian air by transboundary winds. The country is currently transitioning through the monsoon season, marked by weak winds blowing from various directions, which allows the haze to persist even with rainfall. Meteorologist Professor Datuk Azizan Abu Samah notes that the prevailing wind direction plays a significant role in the haze's persistence, as winds from the south, south-west, or west continue to deliver smoke from Indonesia into Malaysia. Last year, Indonesia experienced an alarming increase in forest and peatland fires, burning over 1.9 million hectares, an area nearly 12 times the size of London. The haze in Malaysia has led to worsening air quality, health concerns, and school closures, prompting Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to offer assistance to Indonesia in addressing the forest and land fires. Heavy rainfall can temporarily reduce haze, but its effectiveness relies on the volume and duration of rainfall, particle size, and atmospheric conditions. Even when rain clears due to wet deposition, new smoke from Sumatra and Kalimantan can be carried back into Malaysia, maintaining high pollutant concentrations. While rainfall in Sumatra might help extinguish the fires, the scale of the environmental disaster is too large for a technological fix. A change in weather could offer Malaysians relief, with the Northeast Monsoon bringing stronger, more widespread rainfall and easterly and north-easterly winds to carry smoke away from the country, potentially improving air quality in the coming weeks.",
  "summary": "KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 21 — Malaysia, particularly the Klang Valley, has been experiencing bouts of heavy rain and thun...",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 2,
    "also_reported_by": [
      {
        "outlet": "Malay Mail",
        "title": "Why won’t the rain wash away Malaysia’s haze? Experts explain what’s keeping the smoke coming",
        "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/20/why-wont-the-rain-wash-away-malaysias-haze-experts-explain-whats-15835200",
        "published": "2026-10-20T23:00:00.000Z"
      }
    ]
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}