Climate change made Indonesian fires more severe, scientists say
SINGAPORE — Wildfires that hit large parts of Indonesia from August to October and plunged much of Southeast Asia into hazardous smoke were made much worse by "record-breaking" heat caused by human-induced climate change, scientists said on Friday. While a very strong El Niño was the dominant factor in determining the extremely low levels of rainfall across Indonesia from July, human-induced…
Wildfires across large portions of Indonesia from August to October this year severely impacted the region, enveloping much of Southeast Asia in hazardous smoke. Scientists attributed these extreme conditions to a combination of factors, but emphasized that human-induced climate change played a significant role, making the situation much worse.
According to a report by climate research group World Weather Attribution, human activity added around 1.6 degrees Celsius of additional heat during the fire season. Theodore Keeping, a researcher at Imperial College London, stated that the conditions witnessed this year would have been impossible in a world without the human contribution to climate change, even with the strong El Niño that was present.
Keeping emphasized that the severe weather conditions driving these fires are becoming increasingly severe, with multiple factors changing in different ways.
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- Climate change made Indonesian fires more severe, say scientists freemalaysiatoday.com
- Climate change made Indonesian fires more severe, scientists say koreatimes.co.kr
