POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - According to data from the country's National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), US wildfires from early January to the beginning of September this year have ravaged almost 4.95 million acres, or more than 2 million hectares - equal to over 30 times the area of Jakarta.
These fires have taken place amid efforts to fight the climate crisis and ahead of the upcoming COP26 to be held in Glasgow from November 1-12.
As previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Jul 21), by July 20 this year US wildfires had already burned 2.59 million acres, or in excess of one million hectares - equal to over 14 times the size of Singapore.
This means that from July 20 to September 1, close to one million additional hectares were destroyed by wildfires in the US.
One of the facts to emerge from these haze-causing fires in the US is that some forests used by companies, including Microsoft, for their carbon offsets also form part of the burned areas.
The following chart shows the trajectory of US wildfires in 2021 which have now engulfed over 2 million hectares, equivalent to more than 27 times the area of Singapore.
Indonesian fire update
Meanwhile, according to the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry, the area in Indonesia affected by forest and land fires from January to July this year stood at around 106 thousand hectares - far below the extent of US wildfires - more than 60% of which lies in West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces.
Moreover, the Indonesian provinces with the potential to generate transboundary haze, such as Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, contributed 23% to the country’s total burned area from forest and land fires in the same January to July period.
Furthermore, the month of August also passed without any substantial haze-causing fires taking place.
As such, it can be concluded that haze-causing fires did not occur in Indonesia until early September 2021, when the country is faced with the peak of the dry season which will continue until October.
Last year too, in the first few months of the pandemic, Indonesia was free from haze-causing fires.
In fact, updated data on hotspots from the Indonesian forestry authorities - which indicates potential fire spots - demonstrates a decrease of up to 60.38% from January to September 1, 2021, compared to the same period last year.
RELATED STORIES
POLICY
JAKARTA (FORESTHINTS.NEWS) - According to data from the country's National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC), US wildfires from early January to the beginning of September this year have ravaged almost 4.95 million acres, or more than 2 million hectares - equal to over 30 times the area of Jakarta.
These fires have taken place amid efforts to fight the climate crisis and ahead of the upcoming COP26 to be held in Glasgow from November 1-12.
As previously reported by FORESTHINTS.NEWS (Jul 21), by July 20 this year US wildfires had already burned 2.59 million acres, or in excess of one million hectares - equal to over 14 times the size of Singapore.
This means that from July 20 to September 1, close to one million additional hectares were destroyed by wildfires in the US.
One of the facts to emerge from these haze-causing fires in the US is that some forests used by companies, including Microsoft, for their carbon offsets also form part of the burned areas.
The following chart shows the trajectory of US wildfires in 2021 which have now engulfed over 2 million hectares, equivalent to more than 27 times the area of Singapore.
Indonesian fire update
Meanwhile, according to the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry, the area in Indonesia affected by forest and land fires from January to July this year stood at around 106 thousand hectares - far below the extent of US wildfires - more than 60% of which lies in West Nusa Tenggara and East Nusa Tenggara provinces.
Moreover, the Indonesian provinces with the potential to generate transboundary haze, such as Riau, Jambi, South Sumatra, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan, contributed 23% to the country’s total burned area from forest and land fires in the same January to July period.
Furthermore, the month of August also passed without any substantial haze-causing fires taking place.
As such, it can be concluded that haze-causing fires did not occur in Indonesia until early September 2021, when the country is faced with the peak of the dry season which will continue until October.
Last year too, in the first few months of the pandemic, Indonesia was free from haze-causing fires.
In fact, updated data on hotspots from the Indonesian forestry authorities - which indicates potential fire spots - demonstrates a decrease of up to 60.38% from January to September 1, 2021, compared to the same period last year.
RELATED STORIES
