The volunteers risking their lives to defuse Indonesia's wildfire 'carbon bombs'

In Borneo, the sky turns a murky amber as smog spreads across international borders, including Singapore, Manila, and Kuala Lumpur. Smoke rises from the ground, filling the air with a choking haze that has engulfed Indonesian Borneo since early July, covering over 200,000 hectares of forest and farmland. Thousands of volunteer firefighters, primarily indigenous Dayak or Banjar people, are risking their lives to combat the inferno, which has become so severe that it is being dubbed a "carbon bomb."

Underground peat fires continue to smolder, releasing poisonous fumes and threatening to exacerbate the crisis.

Dr. Nisa Novita, a peatland researcher, explains that peatlands act as valuable carbon reservoirs, but when burned, they release millions of tonnes of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and methane into the atmosphere, causing a rapid pulse of greenhouse gas emissions. In Kalimantan, peat deposits have been found to reach depths of over 20 meters, storing more than 6,000 tonnes of carbon per hectare.

When these peatlands burn, the ancient carbon is released into the atmosphere very rapidly, causing severe air pollution and health issues for millions of people across South-East Asia, including respiratory infections and heart problems. The smoke from the fires is described as smelling like decaying wood, and its toxic effects are being felt acutely by those living in the pollution cloud.