Upgrade of Alert Level 1 to Alert Level 2 for northern ASEAN region
The prevailing dry weather conditions in the northern ASEAN region have led to a build-up of smoke haze over parts of the region in recent days. There has been an escalation in hotspot activities with 1321 and 1118 hotspots detected on 20 and 21 January 2015 respectively in Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Lao PDR.
In Cambodia, smoke haze from persistent clusters of hotspots has been observed in large areas particularly in the northern and central parts of the country. In Thailand, scattered hotspots were detected mainly in the northern and central parts of the country.
With the current dry season in the northern ASEAN region expected to continue into March/April 2015, further escalation of hotspot activities can be expected in the region in the coming weeks.