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What’s fueling Indonesia’s worst wildfire season in a decade?
Indonesia is facing its worst wildfire season in a decade, with fires since August burning more than 4.6 million acres and sending hazardous smoke across the country and into neighbouring states. The haze has caused a major public health emergency, while also damaging wildlife and forest habitats and releasing carbon.
A strong El Niño has brought severe drought, drying out Indonesia’s peatlands, which can burn underground for months when ignited. Farmers and agricultural companies commonly use fire to clear land, and many blazes appear to have started on unmanaged areas beside plantations; President Prabowo Subianto has vowed to investigate those responsible. More than 300,000 people have sought treatment for acute respiratory problems, and air pollution has at times exceeded the unhealthy threshold by more than 13 times.
In short
- Fires have burned more than 4.6 million acres since August.
- El Niño drought has dried out highly flammable peatlands.
- More than 300,000 Indonesians have sought respiratory treatment.
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The strongest case for treating this season chiefly as a climate-driven disaster is that a strong El Niño has produced severe drought, leaving peatlands unusually dry and able to sustain fires underground for months. The scale of the haze and health emergency also reflects how an extreme weather event can turn existing vulnerabilities into a much larger crisis.
The case against
The strongest case for emphasising human responsibility is that drought alone does not explain how fires begin: farmers and agricultural companies commonly use fire to clear land, and many blazes reportedly started on unmanaged areas beside plantations. Given the severe harm to public health, forests and neighbouring countries, those who start fires and the systems that allow them to spread warrant scrutiny alongside the weather conditions.
Explained simply
Indonesia’s forests and peatlands cover large areas of the country. Peat is partly decayed plant matter that stores carbon; when it dries and catches fire, flames can spread below the surface and smoulder for months.
Farmers and plantation companies have often used fire to clear land, and fires can spread from these areas into nearby forests. The El Niño climate pattern can bring hotter, drier conditions to Indonesia, making vegetation and peat more likely to burn.
The fires matter because smoke can travel far and harm people’s health, while burning forests damages wildlife habitats and releases stored carbon. Responsibility for fires can be difficult to establish when they start on unmanaged land near plantations.
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