The rice fields around our city of Denpasar are quickly (and sadly) being replaced by row upon row of new houses and businesses. Even though the rice fields are getting smaller each year, there is still quite a bit of rice that is harvested near our home. In the lower areas where irrigation is dependable, the rice can be harvested 2-3 times per year. One of the difficult things about living in an area surrounded by rice is what happens after the harvest...Most of the left over stalks, plants, etc is gathered up and burned to prepare the land for the next planting. That may not sound so bad, but when you multiply it by the amount of acres of land around our little urban village that are used for rice fields, the smoke can get out of control.
So you may be wondering what that brownish picture up in the corner is all about? That is what Kuala Lumpur's skyline looks like right now. It's what happens when you take the basic idea of what I just explained and multiply it by the thousands upon thousands of acres that are currently burning on Sumatra island in the western part of Indonesia. The smoke is blowing across the ocean to Malaysia and Singapore. It is really, really bad. Air quality in parts of Malaysia has reached hazardous levels and the financial impact (closed businesses and schools) of the haze will be well over a billion dollars.
SBY, the Indonesian president, even formally apologized to the countries of Singapore and Malaysia today.
Here's what the Kuala Lumpur skyline looks like when it's clear...
