Indonesia's Forest Fires Spread Haze Across Southeast Asia, Severely Impacting Health and Education

The haze from large-scale forest fires in Indonesia has spread across a wide area of Southeast Asia, severely impacting the health and educational activities of local residents. Fires, particularly in Borneo and Sumatra, are affecting neighboring Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, leading to increased respiratory illnesses and school closures. The El Niño phenomenon is exacerbating dry conditions, contributing to the fire's escalation. According to the independent portal Nusantara Atlas, nearly 300,000 hectares of land have been burned in Indonesia since the beginning of the year. Mark Parrington, a scientist at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS), noted that carbon emissions from Indonesia began increasing in late July, reaching levels comparable to those during previous El Niño events in 2015 and 2019 by late August. He warned that current emissions are at an "extremely serious" level and the spread of haze is significantly impacting air quality. CAMS' Fire Emission Watch reported that between August 28 and September 3, Indonesian fires emitted over 23 million tons of carbon, exceeding the 20.7 million tons recorded during the same period in 2015. Experts analyze that the El Niño phenomenon has created dry conditions in Indonesia, making fires more prone to spreading. The United Nations has warned that the current El Niño could be the strongest in four decades. However, experts believe El Niño does not directly cause fires but creates dry conditions that allow human-induced fires to become uncontrollable. David Gaveau, founder of Nusantara Atlas, pointed out that land clearing by burning also contributes to the worsening situation. Of particular concern are fires in peatlands, which are wetlands containing partially decomposed organic matter. When drained and dried, peat can become a highly flammable fuel source, making fires difficult to extinguish and posing a risk of long-term smoldering. The NGO Pantau Gambut has detected over 210,000 hotspots in peatland areas across Indonesia in the first eight months of the year. The haze is directly affecting the health of millions. Indonesian Deputy Health Minister Dante Saksono Harbuwono stated that over 5 million people in Borneo and Sumatra are directly facing health risks from the haze. The decline in air quality also severely impacts education, with over 1.4 million students forced into online learning due to school closures caused by deteriorating air quality, according to an official from the Indonesian Ministry of Education. In Malaysia, the worsening air pollution led the government to declare a state of emergency in parts of Sarawak on Borneo island on September 4. Approximately 650 schools in the affected area are expected to close next week. In the Philippines, after a week of PM2.5 concentrations reaching "very unhealthy" and "severely dangerous" levels, with some cities and regions closing schools due to haze from Indonesia, air quality is gradually returning to normal. In Singapore, data from the National Environment Agency showed that air quality in the central city area dropped to "unhealthy" levels on September 4. The transboundary haze once again highlights that the impact of forest fires in Indonesia is not confined to a single nation but can rapidly become an environmental and public health issue for many Southeast Asian countries.