Singapore Haze

Alan Taylor
June 20, 2013
18 Photos
In Focus

Every year, farmers in Indonesia clear large swaths of forest by setting deliberate slash-and-burn fires, sending clouds of smoke into the atmosphere, choking neighbors, including Malaysia and Singapore. This season has been the harshest in years -- in Singapore yesterday, the Pollutant Standards Index (PSI) rose to the highest level on record, reaching 371, prompting government officials to warn residents to stay indoors, and urging the Indonesian government to take action. Indonesia accused Singapore of acting "like a child", and warned it to stay out of domestic affairs. Singapore's Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said the haze could persist for weeks or longer, as the two nations prepare for emergency talks to ease the crisis.

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A woman wears a mask as the Singapore Central Business District is covered with haze Thursday evening, June 20, 2013. Singapore urged people to remain indoors amid unprecedented levels of air pollution Thursday as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia worsened dramatically. #

AP Photo/Joseph Nair

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Part of Singapore, shrouded by haze on June 20, 2013. Singapore demanded "definitive" action by Indonesia on forest fires raging in Sumatra as the two neighbors prepared for emergency talks to ease the severe smog enveloping the city-state. #

Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

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A man looks at a fire as it burns through a peatland forest in Rumbai Pesisir, Riau province, Indonesia, on June 20, 2013. Smog fueled by forest fires in Indonesia has caused Singapore's main measure for air pollution to surge to an all-time high and breached a "hazardous" classification that can aggravate respiratory ailments. Nearby Malaysia closed 200 schools and banned open burning in some areas. #

AP Photo/Rony Muharrman

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This aerial photograph taken on June 17, 2013 shows smoke billowing from fires in areas surrounded by agricultural plantations in the area of Rokan Hilir town in Bengkalis Regency of Riau province, on Indonesia's Sumatra island, about 280 kilometers (173 miles) west of Singapore. #

AFP/Getty Images

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Firefighters spray water on the burning land in Marpoyan Damai subdistrict, in the outskirts of Pekanbaru, in Indonesia's Riau province, on June 20, 2013. #

Reuters/Azwar

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Indonesian motorists travel under a blanket of haze in Pekanbaru city, capital of Riau province on Sumatra island on June 20, 2013. #

Hafiz Alfarissi/AFP/Getty Images

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The sun rises over the Singapore Central Business District, or CBD skyline as the haze or smog envelops the city, on June 20, 2013. #

AP Photo/Joseph Nair

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Office workers cover their mouths and noses while others wear masks as they cross a road on June 20, 2013. Singapore urged people to remain indoors amid unprecedented levels of air pollution Thursday as a smoky haze wrought by forest fires in neighboring Indonesia worsened dramatically. #

AP Photo/Joseph Nair

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A group of people sit along the bay as the Garden by the Bay's domes are shrouded by haze in Singapore on June 20, 2013. #

Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

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The Singapore Flyer is barely visible through thick smoke haze on June 20, 2013 in Singapore. #

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

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A sign on the counter says "All kind of face masks sold-out" at a pharmacy in Singapore, on June 20, 2013. #

Reuters/Edgar Su

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Cranes standing above an apartment complex under construction are visible through a heavy smoke haze in Singapore, on June 18, 2013. #

Reuters/Tim Wimborne

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A masked man walks as the sun sets among buildings covered with haze at the Singapore Central Business District, on June 20, 2013. #

AP Photo/Joseph Nair

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A couple sits on a boardwalk as they look at the haze-shrouded skyline of Singapore on June 19, 2013. #

Reuters/Tim Chong

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Downtown Singapore, covered in thick smoke haze on June 19, 2013. #

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

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Singapore's city skyline, shrouded by haze, on June 20, 2013. #

Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

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The Singapore skyline, covered in smoke haze, on June 20, 2013. #

Chris McGrath/Getty Images

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A man looks at the hazy skyline of the Singapore business district, on June 20, 2013. #

Reuters/Edgar Su

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