Indonesia's health ministry has reported that 175,000 people have suffered from respiratory illnesses since August, as the country continues to battle weeks of wildfires. Over 40,000 of these cases, which include conditions from coughs to pneumonia, involve toddlers.
The forest fires have created toxic smog that has affected parts of Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore, leading to air quality indices reaching "unhealthy" levels. Authorities have deployed more than 54,000 officials and dozens of jets for water bombing operations on the islands of Borneo and Sumatra, but the challenging peatland conditions make extinguishing the fires difficult.
Indonesia typically experiences wildfires during its dry season, which runs from July to October. This year, however, the fires and haze have been intensified by a "Godzilla" El Nino, contributing to extremely dry conditions. The Nusantara Atlas forest monitoring platform has detected approximately 734,000 hotspots across the country as of Wednesday, a figure more than 30% higher than in 2019.
Since January, nearly 895,657 hectares of land have been burned. The wildfires have resulted in school closures and an increase in hospital admissions across Indonesia. The number of people with wildfire-related respiratory illnesses more than doubled to 113,336 by 9 September, up from 50,891 on 1 September.
The toxic smog has also impacted wildlife, including critically endangered orangutans. Indigenous and civil society groups in West Kalimantan have filed a class action suit against the central government and local administrations, alleging negligence in tackling the fires.
Indonesia has conducted cloud-seeding operations in recent weeks, some with assistance from Japan's Self-Defense Forces. Cloud seeding involves manipulating existing clouds to produce more rain, though meteorologists hold differing views on its effectiveness. Neighbouring Malaysia has also undertaken cloud-seeding efforts to address the haze and boost declining water levels in hydropower dams ahead of a forecast severe dry spell in October.