2013 Southeast Asian haze

This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. Please help by spinning off or relocating any relevant information, and removing excessive detail that may be against Wikipedia's inclusion policy. (August 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was a haze crisis that affected several countries in Southeast Asia, including Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore^[2] and Southern Thailand, mainly during June and July 2013. The haze period was caused by large-scale burning in many parts of Sumatra and Borneo. Satellite imagery from NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites showed that the haze was mainly due to smoke from fires burning in Riau province, Indonesia.^[3]

The 2013 Southeast Asian haze was notable for causing record high levels of pollution in Singapore and several parts of Malaysia. The 3-hour Pollution Standards Index in Singapore reached a record high of 401 on 21 June 2013, surpassing the previous record of 226 set during the 1997 Southeast Asian Haze.^[4] On 23 June, the Air Pollution Index (API) in Muar, Johor spiked to 746 at 7 a.m. which was almost 2.5 times above the minimum range of the Hazardous level thus resulting in the declaration of emergency in Muar and Ledang (which was afterwards lifted on 25 June in the morning), leaving the towns in virtual shutdown.^[5][6]