Singapore pollution spikes and East Timor shuts schools as Indonesia wildfire haze intensifies

Pollution readings in Singapore reached their highest level this year on Wednesday while East Timor shut its schools for three days in response to intensifying smoke and haze from Indonesia’s wildfires.

Singapore’s one-hour PM2.5 reading hit a high of 284 micrograms per cubic meter in the western part of the island state, entering the National Environmental Agency’s “very high” band for the first time during the current haze period.

The East Timor government said in a statement that it was suspending face-to-face learning activities for three days starting Thursday “due to contamination by pollutant particles from wildfires in neighboring regions or countries.”

East Timor did not identify Indonesia by name, but it shares an island with a part of Indonesia’s East Nusa Tenggara province, where a number of hotspots have been reported.

Indonesia has been battling its most intense wildfire season in 11 years, fueled by El Niño-related dry weather conditions. The haze has caused a spike in respiratory illnesses at home and a dramatic decline in air quality across the region, with several states in Malaysia also forced to shut down schools.

In October 2015, Indonesian wildfires brought PM2.5 levels in the west of Singapore up to a national…

Original source: https://www.nbcnews.com/business