How haze from Indonesian fires impacts Southeast Asia
Severe haze from slash-and-burn land clearing in Indonesia is impacting air quality across Southeast Asia, exacerbated by extreme El Niño conditions. The smoke has caused health issues and school closures in neighboring countries like Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines.
Why it matters
The intersection of climate phenomena and human land-use practices creates significant public health and environmental crises in the region.
JAKARTA - Thick smog has blanketed parts of Indonesia as the vast archipelago for weeks battles to contain fires that have burned large swathes of Borneo and Sumatra.The hazardous smoke has led to an increase in respiratory problems, forced schools to close and has been drifting to neighboring countries including - Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.Where are the fires?Most of the fires are concentrated on Borneo island, home to vast tropical jungle that Indonesia shares with Brunei and Malaysia, as well as Sumatra.So far this year, nearly 300,000 hectares of land have burned in Indonesia, according to an independent estimate from the Nusantara Atlas portal.Indonesia saw an uptick in carbon emissions since late July, and by the end of last month the levels were comparable to previous El Ni o years of 2015 and 2019, Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) senior scientist Mark Parrington told Agence France-Presse (AFP)."We're seeing already…
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