Will haze from Indonesia also affect Metro Manila?


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Part 1 of ‘Into The Haze,’ a Coconuts TV documentary about Southeast Asia’s haze crisis
Part 2 of ‘Into The Haze,’ a Coconuts TV documentary about Southeast Asia’s haze crisis
Part 3 of ‘Into The Haze,’ a Coconuts TV documentary about Southeast Asia’s haze crisis

This is now an international concern.

“After spreading to Mindanao, the haze from Indonesia has further spread to the Visayas, and may even reach Metro Manila. Worse, what is now covering the sky of Cebu is now a mixture of smoke and haze or what the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) preferred to call as ‘smaze,'” report Ellalyn B. De Vera and Mars W. Mosqueda Jr. in Manila Bulletin.

PAGASA’s Climate Monitoring and Prediction Section officer-in-charge Anthony Lucero said the wind circulation from Typhoon Lando (international name “Koppu”) could have aggravated the situation, as it caused the smoke from the Indonesia peatland fires to drift to the Philippines, particularly in Visayas and Mindanao.

Lucero went on to say that “the haze pollution may also reach Metro Manila but will not be as bad as in Mindanao, Visayas, and Palawan because of occasional rains that suppress the spread of dust particles and smoke in the air.”

Lucero pointed out that that “this is not the first time the country observed a regional haze pollution because during the “very strong” El Niño in 1997-1998, the forest fire that raged Indonesia has resulted in haze blanketing neighboring countries, which include the Philippines.”

“This (recent haze) is almost the same as what happened today. Only rains could suppress haze pollution but as long as there is forest fire in Indonesia, the situation may become worse,” Lucero said.



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