Pollution and waste

Air pollution

Mercury rising: Why a Thai community believes it is being poisoned across the international border

NAN, Thailand: On clear mornings, at dawn, Ms Kanchanaporn Paeng-ud stands on a hillcrest where her family processes tapioca and looks out beyond the sweeping valleys across to neighbouring country Laos. On the horizon, some 20 km away, she can see what resembles billowing columns of ...

Jack Board

Special Report: Under the Haze - Demystifying the Flames

Under last year’s haze that shrouded the region and sent over two million people to hospital, concerned authorities and policymakers have started to dispel the myth that has lasted for over 16 years, demystifying it and discovering the root causes; the vastly burned forests and ...

Piyaporn W.

Extinguishing a Point of Contention: Examining Transboundary Haze in Southeast Asia

As Indonesia faces another year of intensifying peatland fires, longstanding regional tensions around transboundary haze continue to envelop Southeast Asia. Neighboring Malaysia is concerned about the haze’s severity this year, urging joint regional action against rising air pollution levels. Malaysia’s vocal stance on the issue raises the question: ...

Lauren Mai

ASEAN air chiefs unite with RTAF to ‘clear the air’ in Thailand pollution battle

The Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) is gearing up to join forces with its ASEAN counterparts to combat air pollution, specifically honing in on the issue of fine particulate matter PM2.5. This announcement took flight during the annual ASEAN Air Chiefs Conference in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, which concluded ...

Atima Homtientong

Report: Forest encroachment for maize cultivation increased in Lower Mekong

Industrial-scale maize cultivation to produce animal feed, one of the two main reasons behind annual smog in the three Lower Mekong countries, has grown on a massive scale, satellite data analysis has revealed. More than 11.8 million rai (4.7 million acres) of forested area in the ...

Subel Rai Bhandari for RFA

Cassava export boom leading to deforestation and poor air in Laos

Farmers are encroaching on national parks and protected forests in Laos, burning and clearing large areas to make room for cassava crops. The demand for cassava has seen it become the most profitable agricultural product in Laos, as demonstrated by the country’s February trade figures: cassava ...

Laotian Times/ANN

Alarm as haze plan 'lacking'

Environment experts and academics are voicing their concern over the authorities’ lack of preparation to deal with the upcoming haze season. They say the government needs to strengthen its pollution control regulations to better mitigate the problem at its source and protect the people’s health. Speaking at ...

PRATCH RUJIVANAROM

Bringing Clean Air to 4 Billion People in Asia

As the lives lost to COVID-19 edge closer to 5 million globally, policymakers have demonstrated sharply growing interest in how protecting biodiversity, mitigating climate change, and addressing other planetary crises can improve public health. One planetary crisis that benefited temporarily from COVID-19 lockdowns but requires ...

Kaoru Akahoshi and Eric Zusman

Air pollution cuts Hanoian lifespan by 2.5 years: study

Life expectancy among Hanoians is reduced by 2.49 years on average due to exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a recent study indicates. “Research on the impact of air pollution caused by PM2.5 dust on public health in Hanoi in 2019” by the Hanoi-based non-profit organization ...

Minh Nga

Thailand’s Chiang Mai Province Ranked 3rd in Worlds Worst Air Quality

Thailand’s northern province of Chiang Mai was ranked as the third most city in the world with the worst air quality  index on Wednesday, with an average PM2.5 dust level higher than 200. Chiang Mai province is once again battling with a critical air quality levels due ...

CTN News

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