High risk of severe transboundary haze in 2023 due to hotter, drier weather: Local think-tank

SINGAPORE – There is a high risk in 2023 of severe transboundary haze in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the surrounding region with hotter and drier weather predicted, especially as the warmer El Nino is expected to return, said local think-tank Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) in its latest Haze Outlook report.

This is the first time the annual report, published since 2019, has issued a Red or high risk rating, and this is mainly due to a severe dry spell forecast in the second half of 2023. The scale goes from Green (low risk) to Amber (medium risk) and Red.

“Every prediction indicates the weather in 2023 will be hotter and drier, with the return of El Nino,” said the report, citing the forecast of the United States National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration that there is an 84 per cent chance of El Nino going beyond the moderate range into a…