Kuala Lumpur (VNA) - Malaysia is about to make rain by seeding clouds and prepare to shut schools as the quality of air deteriorates.
According to the Malaysian Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change’s Environment Department, efforts to clear the air with rain by seeding clouds, which involves shooting salt flares into clouds to trigger rainfall, and other measures to cope with the pollution would come into effect when the air pollution index (API) reached 150 for more than 24 hours.
Schools and kindergartens must stop all outdoor activities when the index reaches 100, and close when it hits 200.
Almost every dry season, smoke from fires to clear land for palm oil and pulp and paper plantations in Indonesia clouds the skies over much of the region, bringing risks to public health and worrying tourist operators and airlines.
Malaysia's air quality was deteriorating, particularly in the western part of Peninsular Malaysia, with 11 areas recording unhealthy API readings, the department's director general, Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar, said in a statement on October 2.
The Singaporean-based ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), which monitors the haze situation affecting Southeast Asia, have detected nearly 250 "hotspots" with the potential for wildfires on Indonesia's Sumatra island and in its part of Borneo island./.
According to the Malaysian Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change’s Environment Department, efforts to clear the air with rain by seeding clouds, which involves shooting salt flares into clouds to trigger rainfall, and other measures to cope with the pollution would come into effect when the air pollution index (API) reached 150 for more than 24 hours.
Schools and kindergartens must stop all outdoor activities when the index reaches 100, and close when it hits 200.
Almost every dry season, smoke from fires to clear land for palm oil and pulp and paper plantations in Indonesia clouds the skies over much of the region, bringing risks to public health and worrying tourist operators and airlines.
Malaysia's air quality was deteriorating, particularly in the western part of Peninsular Malaysia, with 11 areas recording unhealthy API readings, the department's director general, Wan Abdul Latiff Wan Jaffar, said in a statement on October 2.
The Singaporean-based ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre (ASMC), which monitors the haze situation affecting Southeast Asia, have detected nearly 250 "hotspots" with the potential for wildfires on Indonesia's Sumatra island and in its part of Borneo island./.
VNA
