GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FROM A LAND USE CHANGE ACTIVITY DURING A HAZE EPISODE IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Abstract

Carbon dioxide is by far the dominant greenhouse gas released from biomass burningactivities for agricultural purposes, which can lead to a global warming potential ifemissions to the atmosphere were left uncontrolled. The emissions of greenhouse gasesfrom Sumatera, Indonesia during a major haze episode that occurred in August 2005 wereinvestigated. The highest rate of burning occurred mainly in the province of Riau duringthe first two weeks of August. Total greenhouse gases emitted were estimated from theactive fire counts derived from the NOAA satellite. During the haze episode that hit thewestern coast of Peninsular Malaysia, much green house gases such as carbon dioxide,carbon monoxide, nitrous oxide and methane were emitted to the atmosphere. Thedispersion patterns of one the greenhouse gases during the height of the haze episodeshowed the path of transportation of the gas and the locations affected within the vicinityof the sources. The emission and transportation of the greenhouse gases, mainly carbonmonoxide, from the biomass burnt in Sumatera also increased the local concentration inPeninsular Malaysia.