A government bus outfitted with oxygen tanks. Fire fighters collapsing to the ground in relief at the first sign of rain. Dozens of orangutans rescued. And hundreds of Indonesian students marching through the haze, some wearing gas masks, others carrying signs that read, “If we burn, you burn with us.”These are recent scenes from Indonesia’s worst wildfire season in a decade. More than 4.6 million acres have burned across the country since August, blanketing its large island regions, like Kalimantan and Sumatra, in a thick smoke that has spread to neighboring countries. Millions are breathing in this toxic haze, and the government’s data shows that more than 300,000 Indonesians have sought treatment for acute respiratory problems.
On some days, the air quality conditions are more than 13 times worse than the threshold considered unhealthy. And like in many tropical countries, buildings in Indonesia are often built to maximize air flow, rather than filter it or keep it out. “This is a public health catastrophe,” said Robert Field, a fire researcher at Columbia Un... Read more
