Forest fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra shrouded Singapore and Malaysia in smog for a fifth day, leading to an advisory asking people to stay indoors.Singapore’s National Environment Agency said its pollution index eased to a “moderate” 82 by 6 p.m., after rising to an “unhealthy” 152 late on Monday, which was the worst level since 1997, according to The Straits Times newspaper. The reading for smaller PM2.5 particulates, linked to lung diseases, stayed above 149 micrograms per cubic meter, compared to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency safe standard of 12.
Malaysia’s Johor state registered readings above 100 on the country’s pollutant index at 5 p.m., according to the country’s Department of Environment. The Malay Peninsula has been plagued for decades by forest fires in Sumatra to the West and Kalimantan on Borneo island to the East.
“Reduce outdoor activity and drink a lot of water during this period,” Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak said in a Facebook post today, adding that the haze is expected to worsen in coming days.
The annual fires hit a peak in 1997, when the haze cost the economies of Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore an estimated $3.5 billion, figures published by the Center for International Forestry Research in Bogor, Indonesia showed. The current smog could hurt the city-state’s services industry, according to Wai Ho Leong, an economist at Barclays Plc in Singapore.
link article : http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-18/sumatra-fires-cause-worst-singapore-smog-for-16-years.html