‘The physical toll is visceral’: How Indonesia’s fire haze affects millions - visual guide — SkimNews
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- Indonesia's forest and peatland fires have burned at least 895,657 hectares since January — 34% worse than 2019 and trending higher than even last year, according to landscape ecologist David Gaveau's Nusantara Atlas.
- Fire emissions from Indonesia hit 19.7 million metric tons in the first week of September, accounting for more than a third of the global total, per the EU's Copernicus Fire Emissions Watch portal.
- Air quality in Sampit, central Kalimantan, reached an AQI of 1142 on September 10 — deep into the worst 'maroon' hazardous rating — with every day that month classified as hazardous, according to Swiss monitor IQAir.
- Respiratory illness cases in the worst-hit provinces more than doubled to 113,336 by September 9, up from 50,891 just eight days earlier on September 1.
- Indonesia's environment ministry is investigating 19 companies allegedly linked to the fires and police have arrested 113 suspects, though enforcement remains a persistent challenge.
- Malaysia has urged ASEAN to review its 2003 transboundary haze agreement and deployed three helicopters, an aircraft, and 52 personnel, while Japan also sent helicopters and a firefighting force.
- Community response includes a female firefighter team called Power of Mama running daily surveillance and outreach, plus a 'Rumah Oksigen' (Oxygen House) campaign in West Kalimantan handing out oxygen cylinders to residents and frontline firefighters.
Why it matters: Indonesia's fires produced one-third of global fire emissions in the first week of September while respiratory cases more than doubled to 113,336 in eight days. The crisis is stress-testing ASEAN's 2003 transboundary haze agreement and ties directly to Indonesia's status as the world's largest palm oil producer, where illegal slash-and-burn land clearing drives the cycle.
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