Environmental Impacts of Haze Pollution.

While the economic and health impacts of the haze are apparent and definitely can be deadly, the marine, atmospheric and ecological effects of the haze must be addressed as well, for the Earth functions in a circuit where every environmental system is inter-linked. This necessitates the elucidation of effects on a holistic basis for a concise determination of the consequences of the haze (other than the fact that this is an environmental pollution module).

Here is an overview of the negative impacts of the haze:

Image taken from the Division of Environmental Science and Engineering, NUS

1. Marine Impacts

While the health, economic and land-based as well as atmospheric issues of this burning have been well-documented, the impact on marine ecosystems has been almost wholly ignored. Here, we examine what Jeremy Hance, resident contributor of mongabay.com, a renowned environmental news commentary site has to say about the marine impacts.

He notes that the Southeast Asian region houses the Coral Triangle, the global epicentre of marine biodiversity and the most biodiverse marine region on the planet which is home to over 600 species of reef-building corals and 2000 reef fish. However this stronghold in biodiversity stands to be under threat, according to Zeehan Jaafar who is a marine researcher with the National University of Singapore and Tse-Lynn Loh with the John G. Shedd Aquarium in their new opinion paper in Global Change Biology. They warned that the haze from the land-based fires that has largely been originating from Indonesia as of late, could decrease sunlight to these precious marine ecosystems, perhaps undercutting photosynthesis in coral reefs as well as mangroves and sea grass. Meanwhile, runoff and topsoil loss due to fires may lead to eutrophication in marine environments. This would cause a massive loss in species abundance and diversity. Furthermore, land runoff could also lead to sediment loading in marine ecosystems, which can cause coral bleaching. These researchers also warn that the deposition of manifold particulates of various compounds such as carbon, ammonia and nitrogen into the ocean is with uncertain consequences upon various ecosystems.

Till today, we do not know the final consequence upon the marine environment and perhaps the unknown might be what we are most direly afraid of (mass poisoning of food supplies across the globe? Extinction of species?). However, that reality might not be as distant as we imagine, for it had been documented that after the 1997 Indonesian Smoke Haze, there was coral reef death at the Mentawai Islands (located off-shore of southwest Sumatra, Indonesia). It had been reported by Nerlie et al (Science, vol 301) that 1.1 x 10^4  metric tons of Iron was released from the Sumatran wildfies. This was linked to the disappearance of the red tide at the Mentawai region.

2. Atmospheric Impacts

Indonesian forest fires have had significant impacts on regional air quality due to the release of gaseous and particulate pollutants in copious amounts. The forest fires, particularly those raging in carbon-dense peatlands, represent a huge spike in greenhouse gases that sends Indonesia into the uppermost bracket of worldwide polluters. It was estimated that the July 2013 fires in Riau emitted between 36 million and 49 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent. The burning of the forests and peatlands in 2013 had undermined Indonesia's effort to achieve a 26% reduction in emissions by 2020.

In 1999, it was found that primary pollution emissions may either be short- or long-lived. Short-lived primary pollution emissions from the burning of oil plantations and peatlands only affects only regional air quality, whereas the latter upsets the global balance of radiation energy in the atmosphere. The short-lived compounds last for a matter of hours up to several months and these gases can be hazardous, especially when they are in high concentration and close to their source. Chief examples are sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides.

The long-lived category includes gases that can outlast a century. Examples of which are carbon dioxide, methane and chlorofluorocarbons. Owing to their slow removal rate, they accumulate in the atmosphere, and they disperse globally because large-scale mixing typically takes months within a hemisphere to a year between hemispheres. Because these gases absorb infrared radiation, less of this energy is being transmitted into space and leads to what is more commonly known as the greenhouse effect. 

3. Loss of biodiversity

Haze pollution has harmful effects on biodiversity. Let's use plants as an example of the ecological destruction the haze brings. Air pollutants can affect materials by soiling or chemical deterioration. High smoke and particulate levels are associated with soiling of clothing and structures. Pollutants which are known as phytotoxicants (substances harmful to vegetation) are sulfur dioxide, perosyacetyl nitrate (an oxidation product in photochemical smog) and ethylene. In general, these gaseous pollutants enter the plant with air through the stomata in the course of respiration and once in the leaf of the plant, pollutants destroy chlorophyll and disrupt photosynthesis. Damage can rage form a reduction in growth rate to complete death of the plant. Here, we are discussing the impacts on plants that are not within the palm oil plantations in Indonesia. They may be located in the peripheral regions and neighbouring countries, often which too bear the consequences of the haze. 

The loss of biodiversity at the logging site is obvious. What kind of organism can survive the fires? Done at large for a long period of time, extinction by some species may happen.

The deforestation process in Riau; Source: greenpeaceblogs.org

References:
Zeehan Jaafar, Tse-Lynn Loh. (2014) Linking land, air and sea: potential impacts of biomass burning and the resultant haze on marine ecosystems of Southeast Asia. Global Change Biology