<TABLE border=0 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%"><TBODY><TR>Severe haze likely to hit Singapore
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>El Nino set to return this year, bringing hotter and drier weather </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Amresh Gunasingham
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SMOKE haze from Indonesia could make an unwanted comeback this year as an El Nino weather phenomenon develops, bringing hotter and drier weather, Minister for the Environment & Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday.
Though slight now, the haze could worsen in the coming months, and peak in September, deep into the dry season.
Yesterday, 32 hot spots were detected in Sumatra, and 50 in Borneo. Meteorologists are watching as an early-stage El Nino develops over the Pacific Ocean.
'It is cause for concern because it means the haze situation could worsen,' said Dr Yaacob. 'We are already seeing some signs of it.'
In fact, all it would take now for haze to blow by is for the wind to change, said experts. It has already blanketed parts of neighbouring Malaysia.
The pollution standards index (PSI) peaked at an unhealthy 136 in areas such as Port Klang, Shah Alam and Cheras last week, as visibility and air quality deteriorated rapidly.
In Singapore the PSI is in the good range for now.
But similar hot and dry weather in 1997 and 2006 fuelled fires in Indonesia, and south-westerly winds sent the smoke onwards.
The haze lasted three months in 1997, with the PSI reaching an all time high of 226 in September. People stayed indoors, health-care costs soared and tourism was disrupted.
According to a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report published in 1998, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia suffered losses of more than $2.1 billion in the toll to their economies.
A bad haze year would also have a worrying impact on the prize event in the tourism calendar, the F1 Grand Prix race held in September, the minister said yesterday.
'These are things we should be concerned about and we have informed Indonesia that they need to do something about it,' he said.
Singapore will continue to work with Indonesia by providing it with the latest up-to-date information of where hot spots are, so that it can do its part, said Dr Yaacob.
He was speaking to reporters at the launch of a new $9 million satellite ground station, which will assist Indonesia in the haze fight by providing more razor-sharp satellite imaging of hot spot areas.
Indonesia has managed to reduce the number of hot spots but has yet to meet its target of 50 per cent this year, he said.
At a meeting in April for the Asean Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution, it assured its neighbours it would step up efforts to meet the target.
Dr Yaacob said officials from the National Environment Agency (NEA) and his ministry are due to travel to Jambi province next week and would impress upon government officials there of 'the need to do more'.
The next ministerial committee meeting, set for October, may also have to be brought forward to before September, he said.
'Let's plan for the worst and hope for the best.'
But Dr Yaacob also paid tribute to a collaboration between Singapore and Jambi province as evidence of progress on Indonesia's part in tackling the problem.
Singapore has committed $1 million to help the provincial government implement various programmes designed to prevent or mitigate the incidence of fires.
Air quality monitoring stations set up in the province now feed information about what is going on there. The hope is for such a network of monitoring stations to be extended throughout Indonesia.
NEA's Meteorological Services Division said a 'marked warming in this part of the Pacific Ocean in recent months points to the early stage of a potential El Nino'. Warming conditions need to be sustained over the coming months for a full-fledged El Nino to develop.
Associate Professor Matthias Roth, from the department of geography at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said the odds for haze in Singapore are high, as the south-west monsoon season, which has just begun and lasts till end-October, would blow any smoke this way. [email protected]
Not happy ah? Vote me out lah!
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>El Nino set to return this year, bringing hotter and drier weather </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Amresh Gunasingham
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->SMOKE haze from Indonesia could make an unwanted comeback this year as an El Nino weather phenomenon develops, bringing hotter and drier weather, Minister for the Environment & Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said yesterday.
Though slight now, the haze could worsen in the coming months, and peak in September, deep into the dry season.
Yesterday, 32 hot spots were detected in Sumatra, and 50 in Borneo. Meteorologists are watching as an early-stage El Nino develops over the Pacific Ocean.
'It is cause for concern because it means the haze situation could worsen,' said Dr Yaacob. 'We are already seeing some signs of it.'
In fact, all it would take now for haze to blow by is for the wind to change, said experts. It has already blanketed parts of neighbouring Malaysia.
The pollution standards index (PSI) peaked at an unhealthy 136 in areas such as Port Klang, Shah Alam and Cheras last week, as visibility and air quality deteriorated rapidly.
In Singapore the PSI is in the good range for now.
But similar hot and dry weather in 1997 and 2006 fuelled fires in Indonesia, and south-westerly winds sent the smoke onwards.
The haze lasted three months in 1997, with the PSI reaching an all time high of 226 in September. People stayed indoors, health-care costs soared and tourism was disrupted.
According to a World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) report published in 1998, Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia suffered losses of more than $2.1 billion in the toll to their economies.
A bad haze year would also have a worrying impact on the prize event in the tourism calendar, the F1 Grand Prix race held in September, the minister said yesterday.
'These are things we should be concerned about and we have informed Indonesia that they need to do something about it,' he said.
Singapore will continue to work with Indonesia by providing it with the latest up-to-date information of where hot spots are, so that it can do its part, said Dr Yaacob.
He was speaking to reporters at the launch of a new $9 million satellite ground station, which will assist Indonesia in the haze fight by providing more razor-sharp satellite imaging of hot spot areas.
Indonesia has managed to reduce the number of hot spots but has yet to meet its target of 50 per cent this year, he said.
At a meeting in April for the Asean Ministerial Steering Committee (MSC) on Transboundary Haze Pollution, it assured its neighbours it would step up efforts to meet the target.
Dr Yaacob said officials from the National Environment Agency (NEA) and his ministry are due to travel to Jambi province next week and would impress upon government officials there of 'the need to do more'.
The next ministerial committee meeting, set for October, may also have to be brought forward to before September, he said.
'Let's plan for the worst and hope for the best.'
But Dr Yaacob also paid tribute to a collaboration between Singapore and Jambi province as evidence of progress on Indonesia's part in tackling the problem.
Singapore has committed $1 million to help the provincial government implement various programmes designed to prevent or mitigate the incidence of fires.
Air quality monitoring stations set up in the province now feed information about what is going on there. The hope is for such a network of monitoring stations to be extended throughout Indonesia.
NEA's Meteorological Services Division said a 'marked warming in this part of the Pacific Ocean in recent months points to the early stage of a potential El Nino'. Warming conditions need to be sustained over the coming months for a full-fledged El Nino to develop.
Associate Professor Matthias Roth, from the department of geography at the National University of Singapore (NUS), said the odds for haze in Singapore are high, as the south-west monsoon season, which has just begun and lasts till end-October, would blow any smoke this way. [email protected]
Not happy ah? Vote me out lah!
