Indonesian fires exposed 69 million to 'killer haze'

2015 wildfires linked to as many as 17,270 premature deaths

ACOM scientist Christine Wiedinmyer is a co-author of a new study into the health effects of the 2015 Indonesian wildfires. This is an excerpt from a news release issued by Newcastle University.

Wildfires in Indonesia and Borneo exposed 69 million people to unhealthy air pollution, new research has shown.

The study, published today in Scientific Reports, gives the most accurate picture yet of the impact on human health of the wildfires which ripped through forest and peatland in Equatorial Asia during the autumn of 2015.



 

Teaser image
An image taken from space of smoke billowing from fires in Jambi Province on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The false-color image was made with a combination of visible (green) and infrared light so that fires and freshly burned land stand out. (Image courtesy NASA.)

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