Anyway, in my previous post, I wrote a poem about the haze which was unable to capture the haze in it's true form. So I have this post, written as an afterthought...
The haze is an annual occurence in this part of the world, as in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia. Since I don't follow the newspapers daily, I'm not sure if Thailand is affected or not.
The haze is actually a blanket of dense smog which hovers in the atmosphere. The severity measured in API (air Pollutant index). Last year we reached levels of up to 600 in certain parts around the capital city, which was considered to be extremely hazardous.
The forests in certain parts start burning in the right conditions: dryness and intense heat. I'm assuming that no one in their right mind would go into the depths of the forest and start a fire now, would they? Winds play a contributing factor too... the original place where the fires started in the first place suffers less compared to other places.
In the hazy conditions, the sky looks grey, the sun's rays weak... (we usually have intense sunlight during the day, walking around from 11 am right up to around 6:30 pm is pretty uncomfortable in this heat)Even the sun looks an ominous red. Breathing becomes difficult, people develop sorethroats, suffer from influenza, eyes turn red, and hurt, skin problems arise, etc...
In extreme conditions like last year's haze, people started we
aring surgical masks at work or on the road. There was even a talk of declaring an emergency situation.I've attached a picture here... it's not mine, but from uglymen.net
This is becoming almost like a tradition now, isn't it? Every bloody year, it's the same bloody thing. When will people ever learn??
ReplyDeleteI guess only when there's a huge hole in the sky will people do something about it.
Oh wait, there is one already.
He..ey that actually looks really cool.
ReplyDeleteKinda like the dust storms we have here... the sky turns a beautiful orange and for a while its crazy outside, but then it rains and washes away all the dust... happy memories.
That looks awful. We consider forest fires freak accidents in this wet country that I live in. Is there anything that could be done (aside from getting rid of all the trees, which would probably prove counter-productive in the long run)?
ReplyDeleteyup, get rid of all the cars and anything else that burns fossil fuels...
ReplyDeleteBut alas that is not economically viable :(
Oh Anusha, uve been tagged :)
SS
pugly: never, i suppose until it's too late, like the dead dodos.
ReplyDeletekartik: dust storms? well, at least the rain helps... it rained yesterday, and yet the haze is still around, hanging like a blanket of dust
aunty: well, I know that firefighters are deployed to fight the fires... but preventive measures? I'm not really sure.
silversabre: electric cars would be so cool... Will be working on the tag pretty soon :)
Two words:
ReplyDeleteHoly crap!!!!
Ian