Southeast Asian haze series
Haze in Borneo, 2019
History
1990s
2000s
2010s
Key topics
Responses
See also
 Category

The 2009 Southeast Asian haze was an episode of large scale air pollution primarily caused by slash and burn practices used to clear land for agricultural purposes in Sumatra, Indonesia. It affected the areas surrounding the Straits of Malacca which besides Indonesia include Malaysia and Singapore.

The haze began in early June 2009 and progressively became worse toward July. With a prevailing dry season caused by El Nino, burning and hence the haze was expected to continue until August or September when the monsoon season arrived.[1]

Malaysia

Air Pollution Index

Daily average API readings in June 2009 [1]
Date George Town Kuala Lumpur Malacca Town Johor Bahru Kuantan Kuching
1 Unavailable 57 51 41 65 29
2 40 73 52 46 41 39
3 31 73 47 38 43 27
4 39 46 31 33 44 35
5 34 44 45 34 41 35
6 40 40 47 47 43 28
7 58 76 51 40 39 28
8 30 67 60 54 47 36
9 28 98 56 56 52 31
10 37 67 58 52 53 45
11 40 69 65 45 48 30
12 35 108 63 55 41 28
13 30 80 44 41 46 51
14 20 64 53 51 47 31
15 20 56 40 40 38 37
16 34 51 42 48 49 22
17 44 61 53 42 44 34
18 55 58 49 36 44 39
19 62 51 49 59 42 46
20 68 61 47 41 42 36

  0-50  Good  51-100 Moderate 101-200 Unhealthy 201-300 Very unhealthy 301- Hazardous

References

  1. ^ "Indonesia forest fires flare, Malaysia hit by haze". Reuters. 12 June 2009.

See also

Categories