A thick blanket of toxic haze is enveloping parts of Indonesia and drifting across borders into Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, as weeks-long wildfires continue to burn out of control.
Millions of people across Southeast Asia are breathing air that is more than 15 times the World Health Organization’s recommended safe limit. The fires have been burning across Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo since mid-July, fueled by a severe “Super El Niño” that has dried out the land and made the vegetation highly flammable.
The human toll is already mounting. Indonesia’s Health Ministry recorded over 50,000 respiratory infections linked to the smoke between July and August. This includes more than 12,000 cases in children under the age of five.
Rizma Nur Fatimah, a 19-year-old teaching assistant in South Kalimantan, said the smog in her classroom became so thick “you couldn’t even see your own feet.”
“Even inside the house, with everything closed, the haze still got in,” she said. “We’ve been living with this since I was born. It’s the same every year, so we’ve almost become resigned to it. But this year is worse.”
Mothers report their toddlers developing coughs and sore throats, while residents as far away as the Philippine island of Palawan report itchy eyes and mild headaches. Malaysia has also seen a sharp rise in asthma and eye infections as the smoke crosses the sea.
Experts warn this is not just a natural disaster. It is rooted in decades of land-use changes. Vast areas of rainforest and peatland were cleared for logging and industrial plantations. When these normally waterlogged peatlands are drained, they become highly flammable.
SEE ALSO: Nepal Death Toll Passes 1,000 as Families Wait for Workers Trapped in Mud
Dr Nisa Novita, a conservation researcher, warned that these areas act as “carbon bombs” when burned, rapidly releasing thousands of years of stored carbon into the atmosphere and worsening the global climate crisis.
Indonesia’s forestry minister, Raja Juli Antoni, warned that the battle is far from over. “Our problems are not over. September is the peak of El Niño,” he said. “September is the main fight for us.”
For now, families across the region can only close their windows, wear masks, and wait for the rain, hoping the air clears before the long-term damage becomes permanent.
Promise Idoko is Junior Reporter working with moderncrux He covers global politics and international affairs. Based in Nigeria,
