Cloud Seeding has Commenced

PJ Community Alert shared 光明日報 Guang Ming Daily's photo.

Cloud Seeding has Commenced....also try to stop deforestation, natural filter is best solution, mask temporary only

國 家安全理事會（MKN）週日宣布，大馬氣象局（JMM）與大馬皇家空軍（TUDM）已為進行人造雨計劃準備就緒。“目前，大馬半島受到西南方貝碧嘉熱帶風 暴（Bebinca）的影響，以致氣候酷熱乾燥及無雲，因此，人造雨計劃無法展開。上述情況預計將持續至週一（6月24日），直至熱帶風暴減弱，才能製造 人造雨以改善煙霾惡況。”

 

Haze: All schools in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur to close tomorrow

Haze: All schools in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur to close tomorrow
Updated: Sunday June 23, 2013 MYT 6:46:07 PM

PETALING JAYA: All schools in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor will be closed tomorrow as the haze situation worsens at 5pm Sunday.

How Bad Is It ? This will give you a Scale of this Disaster

On June 19, 2013, NASA’s Terra and Aqua satellites captured striking images of smoke billowing from illegal wildfires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The smoke blew east toward southern Malaysia and Singapore, and news media reported that thick clouds of haze had descended on Singapore, pushing pollution to record levels.

Singapore’s primary measure of pollution, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI)—similar to the Air Quality Index (AQI) used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency—rose to 371 on June 20, 2013, the highest level ever recorded. The previous record occurred in 1997, when the index hit 226. Health experts consider any level above 300 to be “hazardous” to human health. Levels above 200 are considered “very unhealthy.”

Both images above were captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), an instrument that observes the entire surface of Earth’s every 1 to 2 days. The top image shows smoke blowing east at 3:30 Universal Time (11:30 a.m. local time); the lower image shows the same area on the same afternoon at 6:30 UTC (2:30 p.m. local time).

Though local laws prohibit it, farmers in Sumatra often burn forests during the dry season to prepare soil for new crops. The BBC reported that Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong warned that the haze could “easily last for several weeks and quite possibly longer until the dry season ends in Sumatra.”

http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81431

Penang bans open burning to ensure haze doesn’t worsen

Penang bans open burning to ensure haze doesn’t worsen

By WINNIE YEOH / The Star

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang state government has banned open burning with immediate effect.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said Saturday that enforcement would be heightened To ensure the ban was observed.

He also said that Penang would propose to the Agriculture Ministry to ban open burning of padi stalks after harvesting. That is currently allowed.

that even though Penang has yet to be badly hit by the haze, the move is to prevent the situation from worsening.

He added that it was also to show solidarity to Johor and Malacca, which are experiencing bad air quality.

Lim also urged the Federal Government to carry out cloud seeding in the badly affected states.

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=%2F2013%2F6%2F22%2Fnation%2F20130622111300&sec=nation