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Peat fires across Kalimantan and Sumatra intensified through 2026 under El Nino conditions, severe drought and long-degraded peatlands.
Active fire hotspots in Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra jumped from 861 to 1,619 within 24 hours on 2 September 2026, as tracked by the ASEAN Specialised Meteorological Centre.
NASA Science reported on 3 September 2026 that the year's fires had already released about 10 per cent of the greenhouse-gas equivalent of Indonesia's severe 2015 fire season.
Indonesian authorities arrested 72 people for allegedly setting fires and opened investigations into 19 concession companies covering over 11,000 hectares of burned land.
Haze in Jambi and Pekanbaru pushed school classes online; peat smoke carries fine particulate matter and toxic gases.
A waterlogged wetland where plant matter decays too slowly to break down fully, accumulating as carbon-rich peat. Peatlands cover roughly 3 per cent of the world's land but hold a disproportionate share of soil carbon — released as CO2 when drained and burned.
Simple Analogy: A wet sponge of half-rotted plants that becomes tinder once you wring it out.
Monitors and issues warnings on land and forest fires and transboundary haze across Southeast Asia
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensors that detect thermal anomalies and smoke plumes, the standard source for hotspot counts
The worst-affected peat lies in Kalimantan on Borneo and in Sumatra, with Jambi and Pekanbaru among the haze-hit cities. Indonesia holds one of the world's largest areas of tropical peatland, alongside the Congo Basin's Cuvette Centrale and the boreal peatlands of Russia and Canada.
GS Paper I > Geography > El Nino and climatic phenomena; GS Paper III > Environment > Wetlands, carbon sinks and pollution
General Awareness > Environment and international current affairs
With reference to 'Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD)' sometimes mentioned in the news while forecasting Indian monsoon, which of the following statements is/are correct? 1. IOD phenomenon is characterised by a difference in sea surface temperature between tropical Western Indian Ocean and tropical Eastern Pacific Ocean. 2. An IOD phenomenon can influence an El Nino's impact on the monsoon. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 2 only
Periodic warming of the central and eastern equatorial Pacific that shifts rainfall patterns worldwide and typically brings drought to maritime Southeast Asia and Australia.
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer, the NASA sensor aboard the Aqua and Terra satellites used to detect fire hotspots and smoke plumes.
Smoke pollution crossing national borders from land and forest fires, the subject of the ASEAN Agreement on Transboundary Haze Pollution, 2002.