Since it first commanded world attention in 1997, "haze" -- an ugly smog created by fires -- has become a regular feature of the Southeast Asian environment. A new United Nations report identifies the grimy acid cocktail as a major health hazard for that region and the world. It is killing millions and changing weather patterns. This is no longer solely Southeast Asia's problem. Fortunately, it can be stopped. Unfortunately, however, governments have shown little inclination to take action.
According to the study by the United Nations Environment Program, which was prepared for the World Summit on Sustainable Development that will be held later this month in Johannesburg, South Africa, the "Asian brown cloud" is worse than anyone imagined. The report, the work of more than 200 scientists who studied haze from 1995 to 2000, concludes that a 3 km-thick blanket of pollution is changing weather patterns, causing disease and threatening agriculture and economic growth. It is capable of reducing the solar energy that reaches the Earth's surface, altering the Asian monsoon, reducing harvests and causing respiratory diseases that are killing as many as 1 million people a year. Moreover, explains Dr. Klaus Toepfer, director of the study, this is not just an Asian problem: "A pollution parcel like this can travel half way around the globe in a week."
The cause of the haze is plain: human activity. In Southeast Asia, the culprits are loggers who set forest fires to clear plantation land. After the first bout in 1997, governments in the region promised to crack down on offenders. Two months ago they signed a pact to give government efforts teeth. It has had little impact: Forest fires are already burning across Borneo, and Southeast Asia is bracing for another smoggy summer.