Interactive Nature

Southeast Asia's worst haze since 2015, in numbers

Fires on Sumatra and Borneo, fed by a strong El Niño, have burned an area that independent monitors put at 637,000 to nearly 900,000 hectares this year. The smo

Akhyari Hananto

October 19, 2026 8:20 AM GMT+7

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Data Sources

Reuters. (2026, October 18). Why is the haze so bad in Southeast Asia this year? SBS News. sbs.com.au. Source for burned-area estimates (official, Auriga, Nusantara Atlas), Fire Emissions Watch data, ISPU readings, Singapore PM2.5 reading, Ministry of Health case counts, flight and school disruption, government response and outlook. World Bank. (2016). The cost of fire: An economic analysis of Indonesia's 2015 fire crisis (Indonesia Sustainable Landscapes Knowledge Note No. 1). World Bank. worldbank.org National Environment Agency. (n.d.). 1-hr PM2.5 readings. Haze.gov.sg. haze.gov.sg. Band thresholds: Normal 0 to 55, Elevated 56 to 150, High 151 to 250, Very High 251 and above. Ministry of Environment and Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia. (2020). Regulation No. P.14/MENLHK/SETJEN/KUM.1/7/2020 on the Air Pollutant Standard Index (ISPU). Band thresholds used in Chapter 02.

Fires on Sumatra and Borneo, fed by a strong El Niño, have burned an area that independent monitors put at 637,000 to nearly 900,000 hectares this year. The smoke has reached Singapore, Malaysia and Timor-Leste, and rain is not forecast before November.

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