Smaze, one more reason for Paris conference to act

SMAZE, a lethal combination of smoke and haze, has been spreading from forest fires in Sumatra, Indonesia, where it has caused respiratory illnesses in half a million people and killed a least 10. Initial reports said the smaze has begun to get blown north to Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand. Last week, the smaze had spread to the Philippines northeast of Sumatra, first in Davao, then in Cebu, with the warning that it might go as far north as Metro Manila.

The forest fires have been blamed on a number of companies that reportedly set fire deliberately to vast areas in Sumatra to clear land for cultivation. It seems that the traditional practice may have gotten out of control this year because of the El Niño heat sweeping in from the Pacific. It has caused farmlands to dry up in the Philippines, destroying rice crops. It caused the forest fires to rage out of contol in Indonesia.

Singapore has sued five Indonesian paper and palm oil companies said to be behind the forest fires. When the leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN ) meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on November 19, the smaze problem is expected to be raised by ASEAN members affected by the pollution.

As of today, we in the Philippines can do very little about the issue apart from taking needed precautions to avoid the danger to the health of those who find themselves engulfed in the smaze. The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) is closely monitoring Cebu’s skies. The Department of Environment and Natural Resources is measuring the air pollution and has advised people to take precautionary measures, including wearing of protective face masks. The pollution raises risks of respiratory tract infections and cardiac ailments, according to the Departmen of Health which advised the sick, the elderly, and children to stay indoors.

The spread of the smog and haze over a wide region of the earth’s surface, intensified by the heat of the El Niño phenomenon, could be part of the climate change now taking place in various parts of the globe. It may well be included in the discussions that will take place at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, France, on November 30-December 11.

For, on top of causing the Antarctic ice to melt causing sea levels to rise, climate change is also causing the El Niño phenomenon which has helped spread Indonesia’s smaze. The Paris conference will thus have greater reason to get the world’s nations to get together and agree on specific steps to reduce the unabated emission of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, the established cause of climate change in the world today.