As the wildfires continue to rage in Indonesia, the clouded and toxic haze threatens wildlife and just about every country in southeast Asia as the giant clouds of smoke move across the ocean.
Wildfires in Indonesia have been burning out of control for many months. Officials say there may be as many as 100,000 wildfires burning all over the country. While the wildfires are nothing new to Indonesia, the smoke from them is creating a toxic haze that threatens the health and well being of the entire region of southeast Asia.
Hundreds of thousands of people have become seriously ill due to the fires but some recent rains on Tuesday has helped, reports The New York Times. Kalimantan and Sumatra have been hit with some serious torrential downpours which is helping to put out some of the fires. Farmers tend to burn their fields at this time of the year to make ready for the new planting season as palm oil is the country’s leading export and millions depend on it.
Even as far away as Singapore, people are forced to wear surgical masks and many outdoor activities have been canceled. Singapore even had to cancel airline flights and people are unable to get to work. Many schools simply remained closed. The economies in many countries have simply stopped working.
Indonesian authorities hope the country is ready to rebound as the rains have been a huge help in containing the blazes. The toxicity levels in Indonesia and southeast Asia have become profound. On a particle matter concentration scale, normal is about 150 micrograms per cubic meter of air. On Monday, Indonesia’s scale read 1,357 micrograms.
Many in the world have called the burning of the fields in Indonesia, crimes against humanity. The decaying peat burns forever it seems. In addition, the fires are destroying tropical forests that are needed to absorb carbon monoxide around the world. Authorities believe that if torrential rain can continue there for the next couple of days, about 75% of the fires will actually be extinguished. If not, this country of 250 million people could see the fires burn for another couple of months.
International Animal Rescue, which is trying to save thousands of orangutans there, states that an area the size of over 300 soccer fields is burned and destroyed every hour.
