What is Haze/Smog?

Smog is a type of air pollution; the word "smog" is a portmanteau of smoke and fog. Modern smog is a type of air pollution derived from vehicular emission from internal combustion engines and industrial fumes that react in the atmosphere with sunlight to form secondary pollutants that also combine with the primary emissions to form photochemical smog. Smog is also caused by large amounts of coal burning in an area caused by a mixture of smoke and sulfur dioxide.

What causes Smog?

Forest burning from Indonesia Increasing number of power plants and manufacturing units or industries that mostly have activities related to the burning of fuels fumes that are released from aerosol sprays military activities that involve the use of nuclear weapons Incomplete combustion of fuels resulted in carbon monoxide An erupting volcano can also emit high levels of sulphur dioxide along with a large quantity of particulate matter; two key components to the creation of smog

Impacts of Smog
Smog is a serious problem in many cities and continues to harm human health.[4] Ground-level ozone, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide are especially harmful for senior citizens, children, and people with heart and lung conditions such as emphysema, bronchitis, and asthma.[5] It can inflame breathing passages, decrease the lungs' working capacity, cause shortness of breath, pain when inhaling deeply, wheezing, and coughing. It can cause eye and nose irritation and it dries out the protective membranes of the nose and throat and interferes with the body's ability to fight infection, increasing susceptibility to illness. Hospital admissions and respiratory deaths often increase during periods when ozone levels are high.[6]

Why does Indonesia burn their land?

Farmers and plantation owners are usually responsible for the fires, which they use to clear tracts of land for further plantings. Most of the people who are burning the land are small people, small farmers. They may not be aware that the government has launched a campaign to stop open burning. Most of them are nomadic farmers; theyre the ones who dont know that we are campaigning to halt the fires. Not because the nomadic farmers are determined to always burn land, but because they have no alternative. Land clearing by burning is seven to 10 times cheaper than using machinery or clearing land manually.

Solutions to prevent Indonesia from burning their land

The government will give rewards incentives to farmers who dont burn their lands for land-clearing. To give the farmers free seeds and other agricultural products to support their activities. Combined purchasing of satellites to monitor regional forests Gathering teams of environmentalist to research on this matter Massive irrigation for Indonesian forests Tougher laws on forest utilization Protecting forests by converting them into national parks etc Promote public awareness by giving useful talks by environmentalist how burning of forests could cause lots of impacts around the world.

Educate the children from young.

Land Clearing Methods

Perhaps the most common method of clearing land is to harvest the timber, bulldoze to grub or remove the stumps, and then establish the next cover (yard, pasture, house, driveway, etc.). Leftover trees and brush can be handled in a variety of ways (Table 1). While this method may be the most economical and makes finding operators easy, it can also result in extensive damage to the soil. Additionally, unless the timber is very valuable, using a bulldozer may end up costing more than if the timber value was forfeited for easier stump removal. Table 1. Pros and cons of various wood waste handling options. Method Pile and burn Pro - Simple, cheap - Removes most material Con - Poses fire hazard, hard to get complete burn, wasteful - Releases greenhouse gases, like carbon, into the environment - May require permit (check with local fire department or Virginia Department of Forestry) - Poses fire hazard, hard to get complete burn, wasteful - Releases greenhouse gases, like carbon, into the environment - Back-filled hole after burning may develop sinkhole properties - May require permit (check with local fire department or Virginia Department of Forestry) - Unsightly - Not as valuable for wildlife as purposefully constructed wildlife brush piles - Can harbor weeds

Dig, burn, and - Simple, cheap bury - Removes material from sight

Pile and leave

- Very cheap - Some wildlife habitat value

Mulch with tub - Results in useable resource grinder (mulch) - Removes all material Waste-wood utilization - Potential income from firewood* sales, hobby wood custom sawing, wood chip mulch - Maximizes economic value and utilization

- Generally more expensive - Site variables affect cost - Time consuming - Variety of skill sets needed (sawmilling and marketing) - Variety of equipment needed