Make it rain: Indonesia chases clouds to stem El Niño fires

Indonesia is employing cloud seeding to combat a severe wildfire season driven by a strong El Niño event. Meteorologist Safillah Anggie Wahyuni believes cloud seeding could be the solution, but effectiveness depends on the presence of clouds. The government has carried out 252 cloud-seeding operations since 2021, up from 85 in the previous decade, and has nearly 50,000 firefighters deployed to tackle the fires.

However, experts question the technique's effectiveness during the dry season when wildfires peak. Research suggests cloud seeding's efficacy is hard to assess and raises concerns about potential harms linked to silver iodide use. Activists argue that mitigation efforts like cloud seeding ignore underlying problems, such as the conversion of rainforest and peatland.

Indonesia is also implementing peatland rewetting, monitoring fire hotspots with satellites and ground patrols, and imposing legal sanctions for illegal burning. The upcoming El Niño, which typically causes drier conditions and severe fires in Indonesia, is expected to exacerbate the situation.