Indonesia Wildfire Haze Hits Philippines, Triggers Class Suspensions, Air Quality Warnings

(MENAFN- Khaleej Times) Haze from the raging wildfires in Indonesia has reached the Philippines, forcing authorities to suspend classes and issue bad air quality warnings in several regions of the country on Tuesday.

The local government of Quezon City in the capital region of Metro Manila cancelled classes for children after recording“unhealthy to very unhealthy air quality levels.”

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“The public, particularly those belonging to vulnerable groups, are advised to wear face masks as a precaution against the effects of poor air quality. Residents who need to go outdoors are also urged to take necessary precautions and limit exposure to areas with unhealthy air quality levels,” the city advisory said.

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Other cities and regions in the Philippines are likewise affected by smoke from Kalimantan in Indonesia, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources-Environmental Management Bureau (DENR-EMB) said on Monday night.

"The observed haze is possibly associated with smoke and trans-boundary haze, which may have been transported towards the Philippines by prevailing winds," the DENR-EMB said.

The agency said air quality in 10 cities has been classified as "very unhealthy." That of Las Piñas and Parañaque City was classified as "acutely unhealthy."

Wildfire season

Indonesia's wildfire season has begun, worsened by "super-El Niño" weather conditions battering western Pacific nations.

Wildfires had been blazing across five major islands of the world's largest archipelago – Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, Java, and Papua – for a month.

Emergency crews had been battling the flames described by residents as the worst since 2015. Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto said the government had deployed dozens of helicopters, aircraft, water pumps, and thousands of personnel to battle the fires and prevent smoke from spreading in several key "hotspots" such as ‌Borneo island, home to vast stretches of flammable peat.

Indonesia's Health Ministry says it had distributed more than 260,000 face masks to residents, adding that 3.4 million people are at risk of respiratory infections due to smoke and haze exposure.

What causes forest fires in Indonesia?

In a study of the 2015 Indonesian wildfires, Australian National University and Stanford University researchers found that the rapid creation of villages in forest areas, coupled with El Niño, increases the chances of forest blazes.

New settlers have a history of burning forests to clear the land for agriculture, the 2019 paper titled“Causes of Indonesia's forest fires” concluded.

The economic costs of Indonesia's 2015 forest fires are estimated to exceed US $16 billion, with more than 100,000 premature deaths. On several days, the fires emitted more carbon dioxide than the entire United States economy, the paper's summary reads.

Villages more likely to burn tend to be more remote and considerably less developed, contributing to rapid environmental degradation, the experts wrote.

“The close link between poverty and fire at the village level suggests that the current policy push for village development might offer opportunities to reverse this trend," they concluded.

What to do when there is haze?

Health professionals said smoke inhalation is difficult to avoid when one is outdoors and haze is present. The first defense is to stay indoors where all windows and doors are kept shut.

If going outdoors is inevitable, putting on an N95 or a KN95 mask is necessary. Standard surgical masks do not block fine pollutant particles.

But even with a mask on, strenuous outdoor activities must be avoided and the time spent outside must be reduced.

One must also drink at least eight to 10 glasses of water daily to keep airways moist and soothe irritation.

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