Editing Smog (section)

==== Southeast Asia ====
{{See also|Asian brown cloud|haze}}
[[File:Downtown Core, Singapore, Oct 06.JPG|thumb|left|[[Singapore]]'s [[Downtown Core]] on 7 October 2006, when it was affected by [[wildfire|forest fires]] in [[Sumatra]], [[Indonesia]]]]
Smog is a regular problem in [[Southeast Asia]] caused by [[wildfire|land and forest fires]] in [[Indonesia]], especially [[Sumatra]] and [[Kalimantan]], although the term [[haze]] is preferred in describing the problem. Farmers and plantation owners are usually responsible for the fires, which they use to clear tracts of land for further plantings. Those fires mainly affect [[Brunei]], [[Indonesia]], [[Philippines]], [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]] and [[Thailand]], and occasionally [[Guam]] and [[Saipan]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=61706 |date=5 October 2006 |title=Indon haze spreads to NMI |first=Ferdie |last=de la Torre |work=Saigpan Tribune |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070218044848/http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=61706 |archive-date=18 February 2007 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=15717 | title = 15 areas with unhealthy air (updated) | first = S.Tamarai | last = Chelvi | location = Petaling Jaya | publisher = Sun Media Corporation Sdn. Bhd. | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090110073337/http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=15717 | archive-date = 10 January 2009}}</ref> The economic losses of the fires in 1997 have been estimated at more than US$9 billion.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://haze.asean.org/?wpfb_dl=12 | date = 28 June 2007 | title = Combating Haze in ASEAN: Frequently Asked Questions | author = ASEAN Secretariat, Jl. | publisher = ASEAN Haze Action Online | access-date = 25 October 2013 | archive-date = 29 October 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131029195409/http://haze.asean.org/?wpfb_dl=12 | url-status = dead }}</ref> This includes damages in agriculture production, destruction of forest lands, health, transportation, tourism, and other economic endeavours. Not included are social, environmental, and psychological problems and long-term health effects. The [[2006 Southeast Asian haze|second-latest bout of haze]] to occur in [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]] and the [[Malacca Straits]] is in October 2006, and was caused by smoke from fires in [[Indonesia]] being blown across the Straits of Malacca by south-westerly winds. A similar haze has occurred in June 2013, with the PSI setting a [[Pollutant Standards Index#PSI in Singapore|new record]] in Singapore on 21 June at 12pm with a reading of 401, which is in the "Hazardous" range.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/psi-hits-new-all-time/719496.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130624015317/http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/psi-hits-new-all-time/719496.html |archive-date=24 June 2013 |title=Singapore: PSI hits new all-time high of 401 on Friday |publisher=Channel NewsAsia |date=21 June 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The [[Association of Southeast Asian Nations]] (ASEAN) reacted. In 2002, the [[ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution|Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution]] was signed between all ASEAN nations.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://haze.asean.org/?page_id=185 | title = ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution | author = ASEAN Secretariat, Jl. | publisher = ASEAN Haze Action Online | access-date = 31 January 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150910063035/http://haze.asean.org/?page_id=185 | archive-date = 10 September 2015 | url-status = dead }}</ref> ASEAN formed a Regional Haze Action Plan (RHAP) and established a co-ordination and support unit (CSU).<ref>{{cite web | url = http://haze.asean.org/?page_id=244 | title = About Us | author = ASEAN Secretariat, Jl. | publisher = ASEAN Haze Action Online | access-date = 31 January 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150912134926/http://haze.asean.org/?page_id=244 | archive-date = 12 September 2015 | url-status = dead }}</ref> RHAP, with the help of [[Canada]], established a monitoring and warning system for forest/vegetation fires and implemented a Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS). The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MMD) has issued a daily rating of fire danger since September 2003.<ref>{{cite web | url = http://www.met.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4749&Itemid=1157 | title = Fire Danger Rating System (FDRS) for Southeast Asia | author = Malaysian Meteorological Department | publisher = Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MOSTI), Malaysia | access-date = 25 October 2013 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192243/http://www.met.gov.my/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4749&Itemid=1157 | archive-date = 29 October 2013 }}</ref> Indonesia has been ineffective at enforcing legal policies on errant farmers.{{citation needed | date = October 2013}}