Welcome to my blog!
Over the next few months, this blog will be a space where I explore air quality and pollution in South East Asia. I have chosen this topic, because within the past twenty to thirty years, air quality in South East Asia, especially during dry season, has become a widely discussed environmental issue. In my blog posts, I will be discussing the procedures that have been put in place to cope with the adverse effects of the haze, such as reduced visibility and the increased risks of respiratory health threats. Air pollution is not a problem which can be confined to the same geographical boundaries as other land-based environmental problems. Where the haze might originate from one area, it effects neighbouring South East Asian countries as the noxious fumes transcend transnational boundaries. I hope to explore the relationships between different players involved in this environmental issue, and the effect and impact that it has at different scales (local, national, regional, global etc.).
As a brief introduction to the haze, here is some background information:
What is the haze?
The smoke haze afflicting the Southeast Asian region originates from large scale forest fires to clear land for agricultural purposes. The haze is an annual occurrence which affects many of the countries within the region especially between June and October, which marks the Southwest Monsoon season (WMO, 2013). Varkley (2013) suggests that the man-made slash and burn technique employed to clear land has had a detrimental effect, not only on the air quality of the region, but also on a global scale in terms of increased carbon emissions and exacerbation of climate change. Forests in Sumatra and Kalimantan, Indonesian Borneo are predominantly being burnt to make way for palm-oil plantations (Schonhardt, 2015). Many different actors are involved in this situation and stakeholders involved lay the blame with others. The ownership of the land involved is unclear, which only serves to further complicate matters as the parties involved point fingers at each other.
Concerns over the haze have intensified over the past few years as the level of air pollution has reached hazardous levels. The impacts are widespread and are distributed unequally among parties involved. Who is responsible for dealing with these air quality problems? Who should be responsible? Who is being affected the most by the polluted air? These are just some of the questions I will be exploring in future posts.
Thanks for reading this introductory post - please comment and send me questions, I'd love to hear your opinions as I begin my research journey!
