Javier, Marial

BSP 2A

Indonesian Fires Girdled Half

the Globe in Smoke
(http://news.nationalgeographic.co
m/2016/08/indonesia-fire-elnino-nasa-satellite-smokepollution/)
Fueled by underground peat
deposits, the fires contributed
massive amounts of carbon to the
atmosphere.
For two months last year, a smoky
plume stretched around half the
globe at the equator, drifting
from East Africa to the
international dateline in the
western Pacific Ocean. The
billowing smoke emanated from
Indonesia, which wheezed its way
through its worst fire season in
more than 15 years.
The smoky girdledetected by NASA
satelliteswas emblematic of a
phenomenon with wide-reaching
climate and health impacts,

according to new research

published in the Proceedings of
the National Academy of
Sciences. Dry-season burning is
commonplace in Indonesia: It
remains the cheapest and most
effective way to clear
agricultural and logging waste.
However, in exceptionally dry
yearssuch as 2015, which was
driven by El Nio conditions
this burning can threaten the
extensive peat deposits
underlying Indonesian lowlands.
When it is dry enough, fires lit
on the surface will escape
underground, says Robert
Field, a climate scientist and
the studys lead author. And
they have an inexhaustible
supply of fuel until the monsoon
comes back.
Peat deposits store a significant
amount of carbon, and when they
burn, the emissions can rival
the annual carbon emissions of

many nations.The authors

estimate that the 2015 fires
emitted roughly 1.5 billion
metric tons of CO2 into the
atmosphere. That amount is more
than Japan's total 2013 fossil
fuel emissions, but less than
India's.In addition to belching
carbon into the atmosphere, the
fires create a public health
danger both within and outside
Indonesia. Millions of people in
Indonesia were exposed to the
hazardous air quality, and
prevailing winds carried the
smoke into neighboring Singapore
and Malaysia.
Dirty Air Days
According to Miriam Marlier, a land-use
scientist who was not involved with the
study, peat fires discharge fine
particulate matter into the air. When that
particulate matter makes its way into
peoples lungs, it can have serious
health consequences. Given the significant
environmental and health effects of the
fire, there would seem to be ample
incentive to reduce the practice of

burning. However, a path forward is not so

simple, says Marlier.
Land use in rural Indonesia is complex and
unorganized, a mosaic of industrial
concessions and small-scale farming and
logging operations. No matter the size of
the holding, fire still remains the
cheapest and most effective way to clear
land. Even armed with information, she
believes people will continue to burn
until they are presented with an
economically feasible alternative.
Preventing Future Fires
Satellites provide an important source of
data for studying the Indonesian fire
problem. Unlike North America, which
relies on both on-the-ground and satellite
information to gather fire data, Indonesia
depends wholly on satellite observations.
The researchers looked at data collected
from NASAs Earth Observing
System satellites, which have data dating
back to the early 2000s. They supplemented
the satellite data with longer-term
airport records of visibility, which would
be affected by haze from fires.
These data revealed the long-stretching
plume, but it also exposed some important
trends for fighting fire in the future.
Looking at a 15-year period that included
two major fire seasons2006 and 2015the
researchers found that when average dryseason precipitation is greater than six

millimeters per day, there is little fire

activity or pollution. As precipitation
decreases, fire activity increases until a
threshold at four millimeters per day.
Beyond the threshold, both fire and
pollution increase rapidly. Knowing
that El Nio can create dry conditions,
Field hopes the trends they uncovered can
help Indonesia prevent future
conflagrations where burning fields
transform into underground infernos. For
all intents and purposes, these fires are
all human-caused and are all
intentional, he says. Its a solvable
problem. -Aaron Sider, August 1, 2016