ALL ABOUT
THE HAZE
Those of us who were in Kuching when the haze reached its peak at over 800 on
the API reading would surely consider that the experience one of our more unforgettable.
And why not! The ensuing scenario was nothing like anything that has ever happened
anywhere in Sarawak.
A state of emergency was declared
by the Federal government but was lifted by the Prime Minister when the situation
improved. Some consumers rushed to stock up on food items including canned food
and bottled water. A few grocery shops' shelves started to look like Mother
Hubbard's cupboard - bare !!. Fortunately, this panic buying didn't last long
and most consumers remained calm during the state emergency. Pharmacies ran
out of face masks used to minimise inhalation of obnoxious fumes and pollutants
in the air. Clinics and hospitals also recorded a higher admissions of patients
complaining of breathing difficulties and related respiratory ailments.
Factories emitting smoke into the
atmosphere were urged to cease operation in order to cut down the output of
smoke into the already polluted air. Employees in the public and private
sectors were then encouraged to stay at home and be on standby for recall back
to duty when necessary. Although everyone was apprehensive during the haze crisis,
there was no major public panic as each person went about his or her daily chores
regardless of the grim situation.
It was a relief when the haze dissipated
and sunshine and blue skies were seen again. One good thing arising from the
situation was that most Kuching residents no longer take the green, clean and
sunny environment in the city for granted.
AND recently, the haze showed its
ominous presence once more, this time in Miri, Limbang, Lawas and the surrounding
districts, setting into full swing relief efforts to combat it. A State Disaster
Management and Relief Committee was quickly set up. The State Committee is headed
by the Deputy State Secretary II, Datu Dr Hatta Solhee, to coordinate and ensure
that local sources of fires giving rise to the haze in the region are brought
under control. In addition, the committee directed all industries emitting smoke
to reduce operations until the air quality in the region has improved considerably.
All plants and factories such as
quarries, brick manufacturers, premix concrete, wood-based and asphalt industries
were urged to comply and play a possitive role in curbing the haze. Datu Dr
Hatta reminded plant and factory operators to adhere to the Environmental Quality
Act 1974 (amended 1996) to ensure that there is no excessive emission of black
smoke and dust.
A sum of RM3 million was approved
by the Federal Government to assist the Northern region of Sarawak to put out
the forest fires and fight the haze.
What is the cause of the haze? What
can be done to curb or prevent it from happening again in the future? Let us
try to address these questions as we investigate further on the issue of the
haze.
A VICIOUS CYCLE
The haze in Miri, Limbang and Lawas
and to some extent in Western Sabah and East Kalimantan, Indonesia and Brunei
has been aggravated by:
1. Forest fires generating thick smoke in and around the northern region of
Sarawak. An estimate of over 11,000 ha of the forests in Miri and Limbang Divisions
were affected by the fires.
2. Little or no rainfall in the region for months hampering the efforts of fire
fighters from all over the country to put out the fires.
3. Persistent peat fires spreading underground which are difficult to see and
control.
This clearly shows that the forest fires, the haze, the dry spell and the water
shortage are not isolated events or situations. These are interrelated, with
one causing the other to happen. Destruction of our forests, due to fires or
any other cause, will lead to the reduction of our water reserves. Less forests,
less watersheds hence, water shortage.
The existence of forests on our planet is closely related to the availability
of water supply in our rivers and streams. Forests, which acts as watersheds,
assist in the integral part of water conservation as they form part and parcel
of the hydrologic cycle.
During the rainy season, intricate
networks of tree roots retain water absorbed into the earth. This stored water
is gradually released into the rivers and streams during the dry season. Thus
our rivers continue to flow merrily along even during a dry spell.
However, if the dry spells are extreme,
these can precipitate the occurence of forest fires. Prolonged and extremely
dry weather lends the forest areas highly susceptible to even the tiniest sparks
or ignition. With loads of dried and brittle twigs, leaves, branches and stems
on both the forest floors and canopies (and even beneath the forest floors,
in the case of peat swamp forests), even a tiny spark from cigarette stub or
sparks from a piece of coal left burning in a barbecue pit, can ignite a fire
that can quickly spread and destroy hundreds of hectares of forests.
And this brings our attention to
the El Nino phenomenon which has subjected Sarawak and most parts of Asia to
prolonged and extremely dry weather conditions.
THE EL NINO
El Nino, meaning 'the child',
is such a deceptively innocent name for a worldwide weather phenomenon which
is considered as one of the underlying causes for fueling the forest fires here.
The origin of El Nino comes from Peru where the Peruvian fishermen first named
the warm current appearing annually around Christmas after the Christ Child.
People started realising in the 1960s
that this was not just a local Peruvian occurence but was associated with changes
over the entire tropical Pacific and beyond. Essentially, El Nino is a giant
puddle of heated water travelling across the Pacific Ocean.
NASA satellites picks up the image
of a pool of warm sea-water, half the size of the USA, building up in the Western
Pacific into an even more colossal size over a period of months. This massive
wedge of warm sea contains 20 or 30 times as much water as all the Great Lakes
of North America combined. This phenomenon has caused freak weather conditions
throughout the world, with some countries experiencing extremely dry weather
while other countries had to cope with floods, typhoons and hurricanes.
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