Wednesday, July 4, 2007

Haze Season in Indonesia

When we lived in Penang and Kuala Lumpur, the haze was a nuisance around the July/August timeframe till around September/October. Actually, its much more than a nuisance and a serious hazard to my health, especially if the Air Pollution Index reaches 100. This haze is caused by the annual fires deliberately lit in Indonesia to clear land for cultivation. They do it every year! Malaysia has supposedly had 'talks' with the Indonesians but....we're still waiting for the results.

Now, we live in Palembang. Indonesia itself! As of yesterday, over 150 hotspots have been detected on the Island of Sumatra. We have not felt its effects in Palembang as the wind direction is from the south and blowing the haze to Malaysia. It was a friend of mine over in Penang that alerted me to the start of it.

Luckily, Aaron and I will not be here for the most part of the haze season. But what about Richard? This is the big question that kept coming up when we were making the decision to move here and now after we have moved here...

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