Satellites Expose Just How Bad Indonesia’s Fires Are

Image: An image taken by German satellite TET-1, superimposed over one taken by NASA's MODIS, show just how many fires in Indonesia there were on September 24, 2015. DLR   

wired.com - November 9th, 2015 - Chelsea Leu

Indonesia has been aflame for a couple months now. That happens every fall—the country’s fire season is severe—but this time around, things are the worst they’ve been in almost two decades. This year’s crazy-strong El Niño has desiccated the region’s peat beds, while palm oil plantations exacerbate the problem by cutting down trees and draining the normally soggy land.

All that dry stuff adds up to create a big, flaming environmental catastrophe.

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