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Singapore warns of ‘severe’ haze in August, September from El Nino effect
The Singapore Institute of International Affairs has issued a rare red alert for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, warning of severe transboundary haze expected to peak in August and September. Rising energy and fertiliser costs could push agricultural companies to use fire for land clearing, compounding the risk from El Nino and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole.
The Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) has issued a rare “red alert” for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore, signalling a high risk of severe transboundary haze in the coming months. According to the institute’s latest haze outlook, this year’s event is expected to be “severe,” with August and September projected to be the worst months and the worst time of the year to visit the region.
Coverage comparison
The warning was carried by the South China Morning Post in two separate reports, each focusing on a different aspect of the risk. One report highlighted the immediate health and travel implications, citing Singapore’s Ministry of Health, which advises visitors to expect “irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat” during the haze and recommends wearing an N95 mask for anyone out and about for extended periods. The other report centred on the economic pressures behind the threat, quoting SIIA chairman Simon Tay on how rising production costs could undermine fire-prevention efforts.
Both reports attribute the main driver of the haze to weather conditions, specifically an imminent El Nino and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole — a climate phenomenon marked by warmer-than-usual sea surface temperatures. While much of the region is currently seeing daily downpours, a dry spell is expected later in the year as a result of these combined phenomena.
Key claims
The SIIA issued a rare “red alert” for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in its latest haze outlook, signalling a high risk of severe transboundary haze, as reported by the South China Morning Post.
Southeast Asia’s haze this year is expected to be “severe,” with August and September projected to be the worst months, according to the same report.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health has told visitors to expect irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat during the haze, and advises wearing an N95 mask for extended outdoor exposure, as stated in the South China Morning Post report.
A dry spell is expected later in the year due to a combination of an imminent El Nino and a positive Indian Ocean Dipole, according to the South China Morning Post.
Rising energy and fertiliser costs threaten to weaken fire-prevention efforts in Southeast Asia, the South China Morning Post reported. Agricultural companies facing pressure from higher production costs may cut corners on sustainable land-clearing practices, including by using fire instead of machinery.
SIIA chairman Simon Tay was quoted as saying that energy disruption caused by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz amid the Iran war had raised production costs for planters by about 20 to 30 per cent. “They will face pressures to cut costs elsewhere, and this might be the use of fire, rather than the use of machinery to clear land,” he said.
Weather conditions such as El Nino pose an immediate threat to the region, while pressure on planters could compound the haze problem in the longer run, the SIIA report warned, as cited by the South China Morning Post.
Perspectives
SIIA and Simon Tay: The institute’s red alert reflects a high risk of severe haze, driven by weather conditions and exacerbated by economic pressures on planters. Chairman Simon Tay emphasises that higher production costs, partly due to the Strait of Hormuz closure, may lead companies to use fire for land clearing, worsening the problem over time.
Singapore’s Ministry of Health: The ministry’s guidance focuses on public health during the haze, advising visitors of potential irritation to eyes, nose, and throat and recommending N95 masks for prolonged outdoor activity.
How this outlet told it
South China Morning Post
Framing: Economic pressures and weather conditions contribute to haze risk — Warning
Facts Included:
Rising energy and fertiliser costs threaten fire-prevention efforts
Agricultural companies may cut corners on sustainable land-clearing practices
SIIA issued a rare 'red alert' for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore
Weather conditions such as El Nino pose an immediate threat
Pressure on planters may compound the haze problem in the longer run
Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status counts the distinct outlets we found asserting it — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.
Claim
Confidence
Status
ClaimRising energy and fertiliser costs threaten to weaken fire-prevention efforts in Southeast Asia. Agricultural companies facing pressure from higher production costs may cut corners on sustainable land-clearing practices, including by using fire instead of machinery.
ClaimThe Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) issued a rare 'red alert' for Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore in its latest haze outlook, signalling a high risk of severe transboundary haze.