Indonesian fires: scientists measuring air and climate impacts
Climate scientists from Liverpool John Moores University are today on the ground in Indonesia's Central Kalimantan region where burning peatlands blanket large parts of South East Asia in toxic smog.
The team which includes PhD Maria Nolan have travelled to the heart of the wildfires in a bid to find out more about the fires and their climatic impact.
Maria, from the School of Biological and Environmental Sciences, is in the field to measure the emissions coming out of the active fires. They are measuring the concentrations of carbon monoxide, methane and nitrous oxide and other harmful gases being released from the peatland.
Her supervisor Professor Stephanie Evers, a specialist in wetland ecology and peat in particular, and co-investigator with Leeds University on this project, confirmed the team would be measuring the depth of the peat fires and linking this to the emissions both during and after the fires.
'Dry and combustible'
The Leeds team have already observed that the peatlands this year, amid a strong El Niño, are much drier than in 2024, making them more combustible for longer.
The weeks of toxic smog shrouding millions in the region has caused schools to close, thousands of respiratory illness cases, and more than 2,600 domestic flights to be cancelled.
The haze crisis is not only causing domestic protest but also affecting air in the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.
Carbon emissions
But the impacts go beyond air pollution, as Prof Evers says: “The effects of these fires will be global. Peat is a huge carbon sink and if it gets burned it releases significant additional carbon emissions that contribute to climate change."
The team will also measure post fire emissions from the burnt peat areas, the emissions from the drains exiting the burnt areas - to see if the disturbance increases aquatic carbon losses, and the soil/water chemistry of the sites, including carbon content of remaining peat.
Stephanie explained that by measuring the haze directly they could work out ‘smoke signatures’ needed to account for both emission factors of the fires and also its chemical signature.
IMAGE: BBC
