Air pollution in Malaysia

Air pollution has been an ongoing problem in many countries in the Southeast Asia region, and Malaysia is one of the worst affected.

Haze has been a major issue for the country, driven by slash and burn practices by farmers and peat fires blown by the wind from Indonesia.

A state of emergency was announced in 2005 at Port Klang as the Air Pollution Index (API) went above 500.

Usually, this means that non-essential government services are suspended, and all ports in the affected area are closed.

[5] Researchers from Harvard and Columbia universities in the US estimated 6,500 people in Malaysia died prematurely due to the incident.