NASA’s image of the day on 3 Sept showed smoke from the wildfires in Indonesia covering the country’s skies as well as Malaysia.
In the photo, red dots highlighting the fires can be seen as the sources of the smoke, which blew north from Indonesia.
According to the page, the photo was taken on 1 Sept by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite.
An article accompanying NASA’s image of the day states that “peat fires are a recurring challenge in Indonesia”.
The country is home to 36% of the world’s tropical peatlands.
These are wetland ecosystems where the water prevents plant material from decomposing, which results in the accumulation of what is called peat.
Unlike other wildfires that only burn using fuel found above ground, peat fires can often burrow underground and continue burning through the peat.
Peat fires are usually caused by logging, land clearing, or agricultural development.
With 2026 being an El Niño year, the weather conditions have made it even worse.
“Indonesia is only about three weeks into its fire season, but we’re seeing fire activity track sharply upward, similar to 2015,” said Robert Field, a Columbia University researcher.
The effects of the fire are far from localised.
In Sarawak, Malaysia, a state of emergency has been declared due to the haze.
On 4 Sept, authorities had recorded an Air Pollutant Index (API) reading that exceeded 500.
Meanwhile, the haze has also hit Singapore. On the same day, Singapore’s air quality in the central region dipped into the unhealthy range for the first time in two years.
This resulted in authorities issuing a health advisory.
Vulnerable persons, such as the elderly, have been advised to avoid strenous outdoor activities.
Authorities have also provided up-to-the-minute data on air quality for Singaporeans, so that they may plan their days accordingly
That data is available for the public on www.haze.gov.sg, www.nea.gov.sg and the myENV app.
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Featured image adapted from NASA.