The fires that devastate Indonesia: five keys that explain this environmental disaster

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The fire raze Indonesia has caused a environmental crisis , health and diplomatic with the neighboring countries has been stepped up in recent weeks with the increase of the fires, which began in June, with the arrival of the dry season.

From the beginning of September, the cloud of smoke has forced to close schools, cancel and delay hundreds of flights, and the situation has deteriorated, also, the air quality to unhealthy levels in the islands of Sumatra and Borneo , as well as in Singapore and Malaysia, who have called on Indonesia to take action.

Many fear that such a fire reach the severity of those suffered in 2015 , the worst year in two decades and whose impact on the indonesian economy exceeded that of the tsunami that hit the archipelago and other Indian ocean countries in 2004.

These are the keys to environmental disaster:

The lungs of Southeast Asia

The forest , Indonesia, the eighth largest in the world and the third if you only include tropical forests, covering about 50% of the territory of the country and to absorb a large amount of carbon dioxide, represents an important resource to combat climate change.

in Addition, Indonesia has large tracts of peat bog , a soil rich in organic matter and carbon, dried and burned to make way for crops, emits a large amount of polluting gases.

In a large part of the territory of the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, the palm-oil plantations have replaced the jungle, and encouraged Indonesia to the first position in the world as a producer of this crop, which gives employment to millions of indonesians.

The deforestation not only a threat to the ecosystem of hundreds of protected species, like orangutans or elephants, in addition to aggravate the effects of natural disasters, such as landslides or drought, but also deprives you of sustenance to the communities living in the forest.

The fires that devastate Indonesia: five keys that explain this environmental disaster – EFELos effects of The Child:

Before the fires of this year, environmental organisations warned of the weather phenomenon of “The Child”, which has been caused one of the driest years in Indonesia from 2015, when the fires burned an extension of 2.6 million hectares.

Between 2016 and 2018, the loss of forest was reduced in part because of the high humidity during the dry season , which led to the Government to ensure that their measures to avoid deforestation were running.

this year, however, the rate of deforestation may increase dramatically, as the comparison between 2015 and 2019 the number of hot spots detected by satellite during the same period, which indicates the possible presence of fire, shows great similarities. The number of these foci has soared since the beginning of the month. And nearly a third are located within concessions of the palm oil (17%), litter bins (11%) or timber (3%), as was indicated recently, the National Agency for Disaster Management (BNPB). Another 39% of the sources of heat current are located in areas of peat bog.

usual Suspects:

The fires are caused, because, in part, by companies palm oil, logging and paper , which are investigated by the Government this year to more than thirty, or small farmers , which use techniques of burning and clearing to clear crops.

The terrain of the companies that are being audited have been sewn by the police and could face legal proceedings , confirmed the spokesperson of the ministry of Environment, Djati Witjaksono Hadi. Among them, four subsidiaries of malaysian companies and a singaporean who managed palm oil plantations, a sector responsible for a large part of deforestation in Indonesia.

in Addition, in the wake of the disaster in 2015, the Government has implemented a series of measures, such as the law on the protection of peat bog in 2016 or a moratorium on the granting of permits for the exploitation of primary forest and peat bog, which has been made permanent this year.

companies and local governments often work around the bans and moratoriums by the reviews on the status that has a terrain, which can go from protected to exploitable after being burned.

The fires that devastate Indonesia: five keys that explain this environmental disaster – EFELa diplomacy of the smoke:

complaints to the diplomatic level because of the harmful effects of smoke that extends from Indonesia to the Malaysia and Singapore tend to be repeated during each dry season.

This year, after an increase in the number of fires in September, Indonesia denied that the smoke is affecting these countries, which has led to diplomatic tension with Malaysia, whose minister of Environment, Yeo Bee Yin , he accused his counterpart of indonesia, Siti Nurbaya , “deny the reality”.

The hell of 2015:

The fires of 2015 caused some p érdidas valued at 16,000 million dollars (14.300 million euros), according to data from the World Bank, and the smoke caused respiratory illnesses and premature deaths in Brunei, Malaysia and Singapore.

That year of the cloud contaminant that originated the flames reached such gravity that the president of Indonesia, Joko Widodo , asked help from Japan, Malaysia, Russia and Singapore to fight the fires, assistance that you have already been offered this year, Malaysia and Singapore.