Emergency Declared in Malaysia as Indonesia Smoke Pollution Worsens

Malaysia declares state of emergency as API reaches 746

The Malaysian government has declared a state of emergency in two parts of the southern state of Johor—Muar and Ledang— as smoke from land-clearing fires in Indonesia forced air pollution way above the level considered hazardous.

The Air Pollution Index (API) in Muar skyrocketed to 741 Sunday morning.

AQI Chart

API of >300  is considered as “Hazardous,” at which level everyone could experience very serious health effects, thus requiring the health authorities to issue a “Health Alert.”

New Record Pollution Chokes Singapore

Pollution levels hit new record high as smog tightens chokehold on Singapore

The Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) hit 401 at 12:00 on Friday (04:00 UTC)—the highest in the country’s history, as smoky haze from fires in Indonesia shrouded the city state for a 3rd consecutive day.

A PSI reading above 300 is defined as “hazardous”, while Singapore government guidelines regard a PSI reading of above 400 over 24 hours as “Very Hazardous.”

A PSI of above 400 is defined: “May be life threatening to ill and elderly persons. Healthy people experience adverse symptoms that affect normal activity.”

Meantime, the government has warned that the haze could persist for weeks.

“We can’t tell how this problem is going to develop because it depends on the burning, it depends on the weather, it depends on the wind,” said the PM.

“It can easily last for several weeks and quite possibly it could last longer until the dry season ends in Sumatra which may be September or October.”

Parts of Malaysia have also been shrouded in “hazardous” pollution levels, prompting the authorities to close at least 300 schools in the south of the country.

Air Quality Index for Singapore, June 20, 2013 @ 12:00UTC. Sources:
Meteorological Service Singapore; http://aqicn.org Composite image by FEWW.

Prelude to more serious events?

Our colleagues at EDRO believe that the collapse of Singapore may occur as a result of volcanic activity on the island of Sumatra. However, they have not disclosed any further detail.

Map of Singapore smog. Source: ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center/ Meteorological Service Singapore via BBC

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Disaster Declared for 27 Counties in Three States

Drought Disaster Declared for 10 Counties in California and Arizona

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has designated eight counties in California as agricultural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by the ongoing drought.

• The disaster declaration lists Imperial, Santa Barbara and Ventura counties as primary disaster areas, and Kern, Los Angeles, Riverside, San Diego and San Luis Obispo as contiguous disaster areas.

• Additionally two counties in Arizona—La Paz and Yuma—have also been designated as contiguous disaster areas.

Georgia Disaster Areas

In a separate disaster declaration, USDA has designated a total of 13 counties in Georgia as primary or contiguous  natural disaster areas due to damages and losses caused by excessive rain, high winds and hail that occurred from Feb. 24 – March 24, 2013.

• Those counties are Evans, Montgomery, Tattnall, Treutlen, Appling, Candler, Johnson, Long, Bryan, Emanuel, Laurens, Toombs, Bulloch, Jeff Davis, Liberty, Wayne and Wheeler.

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Other Global Disasters/ Significant Events

Singapore smog from Indonesia fires continued to choke the city-state

Haze caused by forest fires in Indonesia enveloped Singapore, pushing  the pollution standards index to 371 on Thursday.

Parts of Malaysia have also been shrouded in “hazardous” pollution levels, prompting the authorities to close hundreds of schools in the south.

Air Quality Index for Singapore, June 20, 2013 @ 12:00UTC. Sources:
Meteorological Service Singapore; http://aqicn.org Composite image by FEWW.

Prelude to more serious events?

Our colleagues at EDRO believe that the collapse of Singapore may occur as a result of volcanic activity on the island of Sumatra. However, they have not disclosed any further detail.

Map of Singapore smog. Source: ASEAN Specialized Meteorological Center/ Meteorological Service Singapore via BBC

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Bolivia declares a state of emergency amid nationwide drought

The Bolivian government has declared a state of national emergency due to drought in the departments of Chuquisaca, Santa Cruz, Tarija and Cochabamba.

The drought has so far destroyed 84,000 hectares of crops and affected 16,000 families.

“To date, we have 16,000 families affected in the Bolivian Chaco region in Chuquisaca, Tarijo and Santa Cruz, and 226,000 head of cattle as well as 806,000 hectares of crops are at risk,” Deputy Minister of Civil Defense Oscar Cabrera told reporters.

Meantime, cold weather has affected six departments in the south and west. Frost has caused crop losses in the departments of Oruro, Potosi and La Paz located on the high plateau, as well as the valley regions Tarija, Chuquisaca and Cochabamba, added Cabera.

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Beijing’s Air Pollution Again Rises to “Very Unhealthy”

“Death Penalty” for China’s Polluters

Meantime, China’s “supreme court and procuratorate jointly issued the new judicial explanation on Tuesday that imposes harsher punishments on polluters. In the most serious cases the death penalty could be handed down,” said a report.

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DISASTER CALENDAR – June 20, 2013 — 
SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN:

996 Days Left 

Mass die-offs resulting from human impact and the planetary response to the anthropogenic assault could occur by early 2016.

• SYMBOLIC COUNTDOWN: 996 Days Left to ‘Worst Day’ in the brief Human  History

GLOBAL WARNINGS

• WARNING: Human impact 2.85 x Earth’s diminishing carrying capacity [To be updated.]
• WARNING: RAPID PLANETARY DECLINE IN PROGRESS!
• Europe: The First Phase of Collapse Has Started 
• United States: The First Phase of Collapse Has Begun

Global Disasters: Links, Forecasts and Background

• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Back to the Primordial Future
• The Fate of Energy Dinosaurs
• Mass Die-offs

More Indonesian Volcanoes Could Erupt Simultaneously [Probability ≥ 0.55]

Singapore Sling May Follow

Mt Merapi releases them all: Ash plumes, lahars, pyroclastic flows, sulfur dioxide …

Image shows concentrations of sulfur dioxide release by Mt Merapi volcano between November 4 and 8, 2010. The image was processed from data acquired by the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) on NASA’s Aura spacecraft. “Sulfur dioxide is measured here in Dobson Units: The greatest concentrations appear in dark red-brown; the lowest in light peach. Typically used to measure ozone, the Dobson Unit is the number of molecules of gas that would be required to create a layer 0.01 millimeters thick at a temperature of 0 degrees Celsius and a pressure of 1 atmosphere (the air pressure at the surface of the Earth).” Source: NASA E-O.

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FEWW Volcanic Activity Forecast

• Sumatra’s Mt Kerinci Erupts
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Other Related Links:

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