Sydney Swelters in Spring Heatwave as Bushfire Risk Reaches ‘Extreme’
Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.
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- Fires across Indonesia’s Borneo and Sumatra have produced hazardous haze, worsening respiratory risks and forcing school closures.
- Nearly 300,000 hectares have burned this year, while carbon emissions in late August and early September exceeded levels recorded during the same period in 2015.
- El Niño has created drier conditions, but analysts say human-started fires and drained peatlands have helped the blazes spread.
Thick smog has covered parts of Indonesia as fires burn across Borneo and Sumatra, bringing hazardous air to millions and sending haze toward Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
Nearly 300,000 hectares have burned in Indonesia this year, according to an independent estimate from the Nusantara Atlas portal. Carbon emissions rose from late July, and by the end of August they had reached levels comparable to previous strong El Niño years, said Mark Parrington, a senior scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service.
We’re seeing already now... really extreme fire emissions comparable to those previous strong El Nino years, and also the extent of the smoke and the haze and the air quality impacts.
“We’re seeing already now... really extreme fire emissions comparable to those previous strong El Nino years, and also the extent of the smoke and the haze and the air quality impacts,” Parrington told AFP. CAMS recorded more than 23 million metric tons of carbon emissions from fires between August 28 and September 3, above the 20.7 million metric tons recorded over the same period in 2015.
El Nino does not ignite fires. It creates the dry conditions that allow human-started fires to escape and become very large.
El Niño has contributed to drier conditions, making it easier for fires to spread. Analysts also pointed to slash-and-burn land clearing. David Gaveau, founder of Nusantara Atlas, said, “El Nino does not ignite fires. It creates the dry conditions that allow human-started fires to escape and become very large.”
Peatlands have made the fires especially difficult to extinguish. More than 210,000 hotspots were detected in peatland areas between January and August, according to the NGO Pantau Gambut. Its spokesman Wahyu Perdana said drained peat becomes fuel. More than five million people across Borneo and Sumatra face direct health risks from the haze, while more than 1.4 million students have been attending classes remotely or staying home because of worsening air quality. Malaysia declared an emergency in a region of Sarawak after pollution levels surged.
Peat is a naturally wet ecosystem and stores large amounts of organic material. When peat is drained, this organic material is converted into fuel.
About this summary
Originally published by Asharq Al-Awsat in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.
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