Indonesia’s rain during dry season means Southeast Asia may be spared toxic haze this year
- Smog blanketed parts of Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia for months in 2019 after more than 1.6 million hectares of land was burned
- Fires last year alone cost Indonesia US$5.2 billion in economic losses, according to the World Bank
Malaysia seeds clouds to bring relief as haze chokes Southeast Asia
This year, data from the ministry shows the country’s hotspots have fallen 80 per cent year-on-year in August to 682. Hotspot numbers are the lowest since 2013, the Asean Specialised Meteorological Centre said on August 24.
“It would be a ‘deadly duel’ to have wildfires and the coronavirus, we don’t want any haze occurring during the pandemic,” said Ruandha Agung Sugardiman, director general for climate change control at the environment ministry.
About 80 per cent of Indonesia’s regions are already in dry season this month, with rainfall expected to be normal to above average in some parts of the archipelago, said Hary Tirto Djatmiko, head of dissemination of climate information at the country’s Meteorological, Climatology and Geophysics Agency.
Still, even though wetter than normal condition are forecast over the equatorial region until October, the risk of land and forest fires and haze cannot be ruled out, with dry conditions still expected over some parts of Sumatra and Kalimantan, according to the ASMC. Indonesia plans to continue cloud seeding over parts of those regions this month to keep moisture in peat lands.
“We expect to be more prepared this year, to have fewer hotspots and less land burned,” Sugardiman said.