The wildfires choking Indonesia, sparking regional haze
For weeks, Indonesia has been battling fires that have burned vast swaths of forest and peat ecosystems, causing toxic haze to blanket parts of the country, Malaysia and Singapore.
Indonesia has been grappling with devastating wildfires that have burned large areas of forest and peat ecosystems, leading to the production of toxic haze that has spread to neighboring Malaysia and Singapore. The fires have caused harm to both humans and animals, resulting in criminal charges, license suspensions, and the establishment of a new agency to address fires in peat ecosystems.
According to government figures, over 202,000 hectares of land have burned from January to July, a 69% increase compared to the same period last year. However, the Nusantara Atlas project estimates that nearly 896,000 hectares had burned by the end of August, which is over five times the size of Greater London. South Papua province has been the most affected, with over 168,000 hectares burned as of August.
The El Niño weather phenomenon, which typically brings dry conditions to Indonesia, is expected to be one of the strongest in decades and could last until early 2027. While El Niño is a trigger, human factors such as slash-and-burn land clearing and forest degradation are also significant contributors to the fires.
Brief written by urgent.news from Phys.org's own syndicated text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
