sabah environment haze

Haze consists of tiny elements which occurs naturally or is a result of daily human activities. Smog produced by factories and automobiles as well as fire smoke are the main contributing factors of the existence of haze. When these tiny elements gather in large amounts, spread and then float in the air, it absorbs and prevents sunlight from penetrating the Earth’s surface. This situation in turn hinders one’s sight and lowers the distance of visibility.

At one time, haze was a complicated phenomenon. It not only brings negative effect to an individual, but to a nation as well. Haze frequently occurs in the city area. Factories and an increasing number of automobiles are the main causes of haze. Besides, the bad weather has worsened the situation whereby in 1997, our country was hit by the El-Nino Phenomenon which brought prolonged dry and hot climate. Precipitation decreased and the nation faced shortage and decreasing pressure of water. Kota Marudu, Kota Belud and Kudat were among the districts in Sabah who experienced these problems.

Nevertheless the worst haze that occurred last year was due to open burning carried out by neighbouring countries. Sabah was not spared from this phenomenon. Obvious open burning in Kalimantan brought woes when the fires could not be controlled and raged a large part of the jungle there. As Kalimantain shares the border with Sabah, the residents became anxious and preventative measureas had to be taken. Smoke from the fires covered the state of Sabah and made the situation worse. Sabah had to dispatch 80 firemen from the Fire Department to Kalimantan and Indonesia to help fight the fires. These fires not only affected our country, but also brought similar disaster to Thailand, Singapore, Brunei and the Philippines. The Sabah Meteorological Department increased their effort severalfold to provide the Air Pullution Index (API) for accurate air quality readings to all residents.

The API is used to measure the quality of air. The more the tiny elements collect, the higher the API reading. In 1997, Sabah had achieved a reading of 148 which indicates unhealthy air. Visibility dropped to below 4 kilometres. The following is an API reading table :

API	Situation
0-50	Good
51-100	Fair
101-200	Unhealthy
201-300	Very Unhealthy
>300	Dangerous

The components that make up haze are carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, dust and metals which may have negative effect on one’s health especially that of the children and the elderly. Also not excluded are those who have certain diseases such as asthma, allergy, pneumonia and lung disease. Smokers and workers woking in the open air have a high risk in their health.

Haze prevents one from carrying out his normal activities. Residents are also advised to abstain from outdoor activities. Sabahans who are farmers and fishermen have to find alternative ways to earn their income for the time being.

When the haze situation becomes more difficult, it can bring about a huge change. It could strain the nation’s income if Sabah’s economy sector is affected. For example, the tourism industry, which is the most potential source of income for Sabah, is badly hit because tourists fear for their safety.

To prevent the haze phenomenon from recurring, the government and non-government organizations have prepared guidelines that should be abided not only by Sabahans but also by all Malaysian citizens.

The government bans all kinds of open burning as smoke is the main source of haze. Open burning may also cause uncontrollable fires.

Due to the El-Nino Phenomenon, dry weather and drought have hit the country. This has worsened the haze, therefore cloud seeding must be done in order to achieve precipitation. Dry weather causes a temperature increase in the clouds which in turn causes light raindrops. Very light raindrops cannot fall to Earth as rain. Silver iodine or dry ice is seeded onto the clouds to lower their temperature. Ice crystals then form and gradually increase in size. Due to the gravitational pull, these ice crystals fall to the Earth and transform into drops of water when melted by Earth’s warmer temperature. The rain helps wash the haze down to the Earth.

The government has also launched the Green Campaign and encourages tree planting at home, offices, schools andshopping areas. The green trees can help absorb carbon dioxide in the air.