Recently, we published a story on wildfires in North America deteriorating air quality thousands of miles away in other states. Just as air pollution does not recognize state boundaries, it also does not stop at international borders. Recent slash-and-burn land clearing in Indonesia has significantly degraded the air quality across the seas in nearby Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. While governments can react to companies and individuals causing pollution events within their own countries, pollution from neighboring countries causes international debate and political action to attempt to curb perpetrators.
Some international programs like the UN REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) work with partner countries in Southeast Asia to attempt to decrease emissions on a regional scale, instead of just within a single country. Additionally, international agreements, such as the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, have been signed to agree to prevent and mitigate across-boundary pollution. However, events like the recent fires across Indonesia will continue to spark regional controversy and international debate.
A crucial part of these international pollution agreements is the development and maintenance of air quality stations. Mesa Labs is proud to provide particulate matter samplers used as a core part of monitoring stations that could benefit groups around the world. For more information on our samplers, please contact a Mesa representative.
To read more about recent air quality concerns in Southeast Asia, please visit http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-34438189.
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