Haze In Butterworth, Penang Island
Haze In Butterworth, Penang Island
5 July 2006
published by www.bernama.com.my
Penang, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia — Butterworth and Penang Island were shrouded in haze since early Wednesday, reducing visibility in the areas.
Visibility on the Penang Bridge was poor in the morning but improved in the afternoon.
In Butterworth, the visibility range was reduced to one kilometre at 8am but worsened to 800 metres an hour later, said a spokesman of the Meteorological Services Department.
However, he said, the situation improved in the afternoon and the visibility range improved to nine kilometres.
On Penang Island, the visibility range was seven kilometres at 8am and improved to nine kilometres in the afternoon.
The spokesman said the haze was believed to have been caused by the hot air from open burning in Sumatra that was being blown to Penang by the southwesterly winds.
He said satellite images indicated 177 hot spots in Sumatra, seven in Borneo and seven in Peninsular Malaysia due to open burning.
“The hot spots were detected over the last few days and the haze is expected to persist unless there is a change in the direction of the winds,” he added.
