Crazy haze this year

Same balcony view - with and without haze.  No filters for both images.

2015 will go down Penang's history as the worst haze year.  Air Quality Index (AQI) last October 22 reached a record high of 280, nearly breaching hazardous levels.  

Table of AQI levels.  

Schools were cancelled for a couple of days.  People were on self-imposed house arrest.  Outdoor activities were kept at the very minimum.  N95 masks were sold out.  The moment a door or window opens, smoke assaults your nose and waters your eyes!

It was more than a week before the wind direction changed and blew the haze away from Penang.  I cannot imagine how the Indonesians coped (and still coping!) with the haze right smack into their lives.  Reports said that haze levels reached 3300 in Kalimantan!  Unbelievable!

I fervently hope the Indonesian government solves this trans boundary haze issue the soonest, for the sake of their own people's health as well as their neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore and even Philippines.