Malaysia should develop early haze warning system - Expert

KUALA NERUS - Malaysia should develop an early haze warning system to protect public health following recurring episodes of air pollution or haze.

Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin (UniSZA) Besut Campus director Associate Professor Dr Azman Azid said it was time for Malaysia to shift its approach from crisis management to a more proactive crisis prevention strategy.

Azman, who is also a researcher in air quality and environmental issues, said most of the data required to develop an early haze warning system was already available and could be integrated to enable haze risks to be detected earlier, thereby reducing respiratory-related illnesses.

"While we focus on Air Pollutant Index (API) readings and the movement of smoke, there is a far more worrying development, namely the impact on public health. The Ministry of Health (MOH) reported that monitoring between the 32nd and 33rd epidemiological weeks showed a 259 per cent increase in asthma cases, from 61 to 219 cases.

"This signals that as the country faces deteriorating air quality, the burden of respiratory diseases is also recording a significant increase. Therefore, we need to change the way the country deals with haze, from an approach of monitoring, warning and acting to a proactive approach that includes forecasting, preventing, protecting and acting,” he said in a statement today.

Azman said Malaysia already had a weather forecasting system and that it was time for the country to have a haze forecasting system that was easy for the public to understand.

He added that a haze and health warning system could be developed by integrating hotspot data, satellite imagery, meteorological data, air trajectories, API readings, respiratory disease patterns and fine particulate matter measuring 2.5 micrometres in diameter (PM2.5).

He said hotspot data could indicate the location of fires, satellite imagery could identify smoke plumes, meteorological data could determine wind direction and speed, while atmospheric trajectory models could estimate the direction from which air masses originated and their movement.

He said if the model showed an increase in PM2.5 in a particular area within 48 to 72 hours, hospitals and clinics could raise their level of preparedness earlier, while schools could plan outdoor activities for students accordingly.

"Malaysia is also involved in regional cooperation through the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution. The question is not whether we have the data, but to what extent the data is truly integrated to enable haze to be forecast earlier.

"API is certainly important as it provides information on the current air quality, but from a risk management perspective, waiting for the API to rise before taking action means we are only acting after pollutants are already in the air. An early haze warning system does not need to replace the API, but rather complement it,” he said.

Azman said at the same time, authorities needed to be more firm in strengthening and enforcing laws related to open burning, bush fires and the monitoring of peatland areas in the country.

He said cooperation among ASEAN countries also needed to progress further, including in areas such as mapping fire sources, smoke trajectory forecasting, technology sharing, firefighting assistance and response mechanisms, rather than merely sharing data and taking action.

"In reality, air and smoke do not recognise national borders. Therefore, ASEAN cooperation needs to be strengthened so that action can be taken before pollution develops into a regional crisis.

"Technology, enforcement and diplomacy alone are not enough. Addressing haze requires a combination of fire prevention, peatland management, atmospheric modelling, regional cooperation and more sustainable land use.

"In the short term, we may not be able to prevent every plume of smoke from entering the country, but we can still reduce fires, forecast smoke movement earlier and, more importantly, protect public health,” he said. - BERNAMA