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Letter: How now brown cloud?

Published 19 December 2006

From John Gray

There are other contributions to the “dirty cloud over India”: besides those you mention (9 December, p 20). These include underground fires in shallow seams of soft brown coal, which are almost impossible to extinguish – does anyone have any ideas? There are also peat fires in Indonesia, ignited during cut-and burn farming preparation and again almost impossible to extinguish. The clouds from Indonesia also envelop Malaysia and Singapore at some times of the year.

Bedworth, Warwickshire, UK

Issue no. 2583 published 23 December 2006

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