Impact of hotspots and volcanic eruption on Singapore

Maps are very useful in illustrating the geographical concepts of Place, Space, Scale and Environment. You can see how the hotspots in Indonesia has affected Singapore and the region in June 2013.



The maps also showed how the haze was not only due to the hotspots but also affected by the wind direction.  The 2nd map showed the hotspots for the region on 3 Feb 2014.

Volcanic eruptions could have also affected Singapore as ashes are thrown out during the eruption. However due to the wind direction and the distance of the volcanoes from Singapore, we are not affected by the recent eruption of the volcanoes in Indonesia.




An eruption of Indonesia's Mount Sinabung on 4 February resulted in an ash plume of 3.6km. Based on dispersion model simulations by the Meteorological Service Singapore as well as Australia's Darwin Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre, the volcanic ash is expected to move southeast, and be confined to the northern half of Sumatra for the next 48 hours. The NEA added that three other volcanoes - Mount Karangatang, Mount Lokon and Mount Paluwah are likely to erupt but pose little threats,

The impacts of ash from volcanic eruption on people:
  • Health issues esp people with lung problems
  • Reduction of outdoor activities
  • Burns and even death from the hot ashes falling onto them
The impacts of ash from volcanic eruption on the environment:
  • Air pollution
  • Destruction of forest
  • Destruction of farmland
  • Contamination of water sources
The impacts of ash from volcanic eruption on the economy:
  • Higher medical cost
  • Lower productivity
  • Airlines companies suffer losses
  • Decline in tourists and fall in the tourist receipts


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