A blood-red sky leaves Indonesia gasping for clean air
By: Christina Pelliccio
Just under 2,000 wildfires are currently burning across Indonesia, leaving a blood red sky and dense clouds of smoke. The deep red color is a result of the sun shining on the countless smoke particles that match the wavelength for the color red, a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering. Most of the fires were set on purpose for a farming technique known as slash-and-burn to clear space for palm oil and wood pulp plantations. This is the easiest way for farmers to clear their land during the dry season, but the fires often spin out of control and unintentionally spread into protected forest areas.
This unusual phenomenon is instilling fear in many of Indonesia’s people. One resident, who captured pictures of the red sky, told BBC News that the haze had “hurt her eyes and throat.” Not only are the thousands of fires harming humans by creating respiratory issues for almost a million people, but they are also causing major damage to the surrounding environment. Similar to the situation in the Amazon, the fires are tearing through thousands of acres of rainforest which many different endangered species currently inhabit, specifically threatening three different species of orangutans that live only in Indonesia. What was once a dense and beautiful jungle is now a blackened heap of ash and wood.
Although this occurs every year during the famers’ dry season, this years’ fires have been the worst in a long time. It is estimated that nearly 1 million acres of land and jungle has already been burnt down, according to Indonesia’s natural disaster agency.
This farming technique of creating wildfires in actually illegal in Indonesia, but few people are ever punished. Of the 10 companies that burned the largest amount of land, not one of them faced serious civil or administrative sanctions. None of the palm oil companies have lost their licenses, either. A few environmental groups, like Greenpeace, are urging the Indonesian government to take action and strip companies of their licenses, but no progress has been made yet. Many blame corruption and weak governance for the drastic situation.
Still, we must continue to fight for our right to clean air and a healthy planet. As well put by one Indonesian, “this is earth, not planet Mars. This is not in outer space. It’s us who breathe with lungs, not with gills. We humans need clean air, not smoke.”