Google Rolls Out ‘Southeast Asia Fires’ Map to Track Haze Across Singapore and Malaysia

Singapore’s air is not quite so saturated with burning wood particulates as it was two weeks ago, but the environmental disaster that’s blowing over from Sumatra is not over yet. That’s why Google, with an eye on keeping Singaporeans and Malaysians informed of the situation, has launched its interactive Southeast Asia Fires map today.

Part of Google’s disaster-response ‘crisis maps’ project, the new map pinpoints the hotspots where forest fires are still occurring across Sumatra, and shows color-coded pins for the air quality in Singapore and Malaysia. The data is delayed by a day, it seems, but it can still be useful to be warned of new fire flare-ups that could once again choke the peninsular.

The Southeast Asia Fires map seems to be most useful when the ‘NASA AERONET Aerial Images’ option is turned on, giving you an actual view of smoke wafting over from the Indonesian island. It looks like this: