Singaporeans rolled back military training, kept cough-stricken children indoors and considered wearing protective masks to work on Tuesday after a smoky haze triggered by forest fires in neighbouring Indonesia caused air pollution to briefly hit its worst level in nearly 16 years.
The Pollutant Standards Index, Singapore’s main measure to determine air quality, crept into the “unhealthy” classification on Monday as smoke from roaring blazes on Indonesia’s Sumatra island drifted across the sea and cast a grey pall over the city-state’s skyscrapers.
The index reached a reading of 155 Monday night, the highest level since late 1997, when officials reported a 226 reading.
On Tuesday, the reading mostly hovered between 104 and 123, still within the “unhealthy” range of between 101 and 200.
Smoke haze is a nearly annual problem for Singapore and its northern neighbour Malaysia, often beginning in the middle of the year when farmers in Indonesia seek to clear land cheaply by starting fires. The issue sometimes strains ties between the countries, with Malaysia and Singapore urging Indonesia to do more to prevent illegal burning.
Malaysia has been only lightly affected so far this year, with pollution readings in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s largest city, not breaching the unhealthy mark Tuesday. Indonesia has reportedly said part of the current problem is caused by peat blazes that firefighters are struggling to put out amid hot, dry weather.
In Singapore, defence ministry spokesman Colonel Kenneth Liow said the armed forces have “reduced physical and outdoor training accordingly” after the pollution index exceeded 100.