Indonesia fires surge as haze hits Malaysia
Indonesia has seen an alarming surge in land and forest fires over the past month, with thick haze from burning in Kalimantan reaching neighboring Malaysia and prompting authorities there to close more than 100 schools.
Indonesia is experiencing a dramatic increase in land and forest fires, leading to hazardous haze drifting into neighboring Malaysia. In July alone, around 182,000 hectares of land and forest were scorched, nearly double the total burned in the first half of the year. This year's total area burned has reached 285,000 hectares, equivalent to three times the size of Jakarta.
The majority of the hotspots are concentrated in West Kalimantan, South Papua, East Kalimantan, and Central Kalimantan. Malaysia has been severely affected, with thick smog blanketing parts of the country since August 8, with Kuching, the capital of Sarawak, ranking as the world's most polluted major city according to air-quality monitoring company IQAir.
Malaysian authorities have linked the pollution to a cross-border haze phenomenon originating from Kalimantan.
Written by urgent.news from The Jakarta Post's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
