Some places in Singapore will close to the public if the local air pollution index reaches 100, which is the threshold for “unhealthy”. Anything above 200 is “very unhealthy”, 300 is considered to be downright “hazardous”. In June, 2013, there’s new record the country that reached to the index of 371.
Much of this smog was caused by forest fires started by palm oil planters who illegally clear primitive forest in neighbouring Indonesia, so not only do they destroy large portions of very fertile ecosystems, releasing carbon into the atmosphere, killing animals and plants and destroying habitats, but they also cause a lot air pollution.
In response to the Singaporean claims, the Indonesian authority refuted that Singapore should not be behaving like a child and making all this noise. Agung Laksono, the minister co-ordinating Indonesia’s response, said, “This is not what the Indonesian nation wants, it is because of nature.”
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urged people to stay indoors and protect themselves from the haze, asking citizens to “look out for one another”. “We cannot tell how the haze problem will develop, Lee said, “It can easily last for several weeks and quite possibly longer until the dry season ends in Sumatra.”
