As Indonesia’s wildfires rage, haze spreads farther across Southeast Asia

Haze from Indonesian wildfires has extended its reach this week, enveloping regions beyond Malaysia and Brunei, including Singapore and the Philippines. On September 4, Singaporeans awoke to a smoky sky as air quality deteriorated to unhealthy levels. By late afternoon, the city had claimed the third-worst air quality globally, according to IQAir.

Philippine authorities declared parts of Luzon island, including Manila's metropolitan areas, the Visayas island group, and Mindanao, to have "acutely unhealthy" air quality, attributing it to transboundary haze originating from Indonesia. In Malaysia's Sarawak state, which has been grappling with transboundary haze for weeks, Kuching, the capital, surpassed other cities as the world's most polluted since early this week. On September 4, the Malaysian state declared a state of emergency in Serawak's Serian district.

The health ministry of Malaysia reported a sharp rise in asthma cases, up 259% in a week, and a 124% increase in upper respiratory tract infections. Brunei, an oil-rich nation, has also been experiencing hazy conditions since mid-August. Wildfires in Indonesia show no signs of subsiding, exacerbated by a "super" El Niño, which brings extreme dryness.

As of September 3, the Firewatch satellite monitoring platform detected over 444,200 fire hotspots across the archipelago, a 4.5-fold increase from July 27. Indonesian officials attributed the fires to deliberate acts by individuals or corporations. According to a Kompas newspaper report, wildfires recur on the same sites annually, with 50% of them.