Lecture on Management of forest fire and biomass burning in South East Asia

Here is the summary of the lecture on "Management of forest fire and biomass burning in South East Asia and its implication on climate change" presented by Prof. Dr. Peter Brimblecombe from University of East Anglia:

The history of haze in South East Asia

The forest fire in SE Asia is nothing new. It has been documented in Indonesia dated back to 1877-1878 where thick fog were seen in Padang, Palembang, Sabah, Ambon and Timor. Two months of fog were reported on Lake Toba on 1914. Ships complained smoke causing poor visibility and a fire destroyed 200 km2 in Sabah. Besides natural disaster such as drought, volcanic and duststorms, the expansion of rubber plantation is believed to contribute to the haze.

Health effects of haze

Forest fire releases both acids and alkali. The ecological impacts of haze are acid rain, effects on soil nutrients and pH, ozone phytotoxicity, lower sunlight which can reduce photosynthesis and crop yield. During haze, there is a higher number of particles (<3um) in the air that could get into the lung. Our lungs remove these particles by engulfing them using macrophages. However, this induces inflammation reactions and the worst consequences can be heart attack and stroke. Furthermore, transition metals can get into the blood stream and affect the antioxidant defences within the lung. Researchers found that there is a higher neuropsychological effect to the people who live closer to busy street (>10,000 cars a day), possible cause for Alzheimer disease. Long term effects on heart, lung, brain, eye and skin were feared.

My point of view : Who to blame for the haze in Malaysia?

We always point our fingers to our neighbouring country, Indonesia. There is no deny that the worst haze in 1997 and 2005 are caused by the timber industries in Borneo and Indonesia. The Indonesian government blamed the small farmers and El nino for the haze but satellite images proved otherwise. A detailed description of 1997-1998 haze can be found here. It’s possible that some peat forests are still burning until today because they are difficult to extinguish as they burn deep underground.

Time to start looking at ourselves! In Malaysia, there are reports of forest fires in pine and Acacia mangium forest plantations in the 1970s and 1980s. In fact, forest fires were observed in some part of Sarawak during 1997. Following the 1997 haze, the government had taken this matter seriously by enforcing laws and creating awareness.

Despite that, most Malaysian are not aware of how serious is air pollution in Malaysia. As Malaysian we like to burn, be it rubbish or dry leaves from our garden, whether we live in city or rural village. In KL, 65-75% of the PAH level were caused by automotive regardless of haze or non-haze conditions, and the rest by wood burning. As Malaysian we also like to drive cars and cheap subsidized fuel. One day the number cars will exceed the number of our population. Mind you Malaysia is ranked number 3 in the world with 641 vehicles per 1000 people (data probably dated 2009).

Solutions?

According to Prof. Dr. Peter Brimblecombe, the problem is ASEAN countries practised non interference policy. But I say we should increase fuel price, drive less cars, recycle more and use the dry leaves and leftover vegetables to make compose (just like me!).