Noxious haze in Malaysia, and the link to my office paper
Malaysia declared a state of emergency in two coastal cities on Thursday as smoke drifting from forest fires in Indonesia blanketed Malaysia in a noxious haze, according to International Herald Tribune today.
In the nation's worst environmental crisis since 1997, when a similar haze enveloped large areas of the region, the smoky haze this year has raised serious health concerns and worries over its economic impact. Schools have been shut as the haze has spread to cover much of the populous central state of Selangor, he said, including the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
"Selangor has been quite badly affected," said the spokesman, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak officially. "There's been an increase in respiratory complaints in a lot of areas."
IHT mentions that droughts and unlawful burning of rain forests by farmers and illegal loggers in Sumatra pose a regional environmental challenge.
This is not just a regional issue. What worries me is that paper I use at the office might be coming from these forests. Why does Japan not have proper policies about paper? Whatever happened to the "paperless office"...? Using huge amounts of pulp from rainforests in Indonesia and other parts of the world will continue to create huge problems globally. By the way, what kind of paper is IHT printed on?
In the nation's worst environmental crisis since 1997, when a similar haze enveloped large areas of the region, the smoky haze this year has raised serious health concerns and worries over its economic impact. Schools have been shut as the haze has spread to cover much of the populous central state of Selangor, he said, including the capital, Kuala Lumpur.
"Selangor has been quite badly affected," said the spokesman, who asked not to be named because he was not authorized to speak officially. "There's been an increase in respiratory complaints in a lot of areas."
IHT mentions that droughts and unlawful burning of rain forests by farmers and illegal loggers in Sumatra pose a regional environmental challenge.
This is not just a regional issue. What worries me is that paper I use at the office might be coming from these forests. Why does Japan not have proper policies about paper? Whatever happened to the "paperless office"...? Using huge amounts of pulp from rainforests in Indonesia and other parts of the world will continue to create huge problems globally. By the way, what kind of paper is IHT printed on?
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