When the sun hits the smog enveloping Indonesian Borneo, it turns everything the colour of rust, casting a dim russet fog over cars, houses, and streets that BBC News describes as apocalyptic.
The Human Toll
According to BBC News, mother-of-three Dianyra Eka Nastiti listens in the quiet darkness for the rattling sound in her baby's chest, worrying every night whether her child will cough the next day. Living on the frontline of an environmental catastrophe in Palangkaraya, she represents thousands of families facing the brunt of the crisis.
BBC News reported that wildfires have torched some 1.9 million hectares across Indonesia since the start of the year, based on figures from the open-access satellite platform Nusantara Atlas. This burnt area is roughly the size of the US state of New Jersey or the entire landmass of Fiji, with one million hectares estimated to have burned in September alone.
As of mid-October, Indonesia's Health Ministry recorded more than 277,000 cases of people suffering from chronic coughs and acute respiratory infections, according to BBC News. Out of those affected, more than 62,000 were infants and toddlers under the age of five. Natari Victoria, a 22-year-old admitted to a health centre in Palangkaraya, told BBC News that the forest fires have had a massive impact on health, noting that babies and young cousins are also coughing and suffering.
Background
BBC News detailed that the toxic fallout extends far beyond the immediate burn zones. Swathes of smouldering forest, swamp, and peatlands have thickened the air with microparticles and carbon monoxide, forming a noxious cloud that has drifted across Indonesia and as far as Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
Smoke and haze from peat fires contain a complex mixture of pollutants, including tiny microparticles that can penetrate deep into human lungs and enter the bloodstream, leading to inflammation, chronic lung diseases, and a higher risk of premature death, as reported by BBC News. Furthermore, toxic greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere, leading Riduan, head of the Palangkaraya Health Office, to state via BBC News that residents are breathing in carbon dioxide and pollutants rather than fresh oxygen, which deprives the body and brain of sufficient oxygen.
Why it matters
For ordinary readers, large-scale environmental emergencies and widespread air pollution highlight the severe public health risks that vulnerable groups—such as children, pregnant women, and older adults—face during prolonged exposure to toxic environmental conditions.