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Insular Southeast Asia endures months of smoke-filled air every
year during the dry season. Farmers and plantation developers
deliberately and illegally set fire to the forest to clear the way for
crops, and in logged-over forest, fire spreads rapidly. When peat
swamp forests catch alight, the peat burns as well as the trees.
These fires can spread underground, and persist for long periods,
destroying natural habitats and releasing substantial volumes of
greenhouse gases.
The annual burning in Southeast Asia is usually worst in El Niño
years, which are exceptionally dry. The worst recorded so far, in
1997–8, destroyed 95% of the forest in Kutai National Park: this
protected area had previously been subject to high levels of log-
ging, and may no longer be viable (Rautner
et al.
2005). In 2006,
fire levels peaked again in what is thought to be the start of an El
Niño season that could continue through March 2007 (Figure 18;
CPC/NCEP 2007).
FORESTS ON FIRE
Figure 18: Fire and smoke over Borneo and Sumatra,
late September to October 2006 (© Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory/MODIS Rapid
Response team).
Sumatra
Borneo