From Indonesia forest fires of 2019 caused nearly twice as much damage as the Indonesian government reported, researchers write in the scientific journal Earth System Science Data. Not 1.6 million hectares, but 3.1 million hectares of forest and rainforest were lost in the fires. That is an area the size of Belgium.
New technology was used in the research, which allowed the monitoring of smaller fires as well. Despite the forest fires, deforestation in Indonesia has been decreasing in the last four years, the researchers write.
The forest fires of 2019, which mainly raged in Sumatra and Borneo, are among the worst in recent decades. The air was heavily polluted with smog.
Over the province of Jambi the sky turned blood red for a while:
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