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Major atmospheric emissions from peat fires in Southeast Asia during non-drought years: evidence from the 2013 Sumatran fires

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Title Major atmospheric emissions from peat fires in Southeast Asia during non-drought years: evidence from the 2013 Sumatran fires
 
Creator Gaveau, D.L.A.
Salim, Mohammad A.
Hergoualc'h, Kristell
Locatelli, Bruno
Sloan, Sean
Wooster, Martin
Marlier, Miriam E.
Molidena, Elis
Yaen, Husana
DeFries, Ruth S.
Verchot, Louis V.
Murdiyarso, Daniel
Nasi, Robert
Holmgren, Peter
Sheil, Douglas
 
Subject climate change
food security
agriculture
fire ecology
 
Description Trans-boundary haze events in Southeast Asia are associated with large forest and peatland fires in Indonesia. These episodes of extreme air pollution usually occur during drought years induced by climate anomalies from the Pacific (El Niño Southern Oscillation) and Indian Oceans (Indian Ocean Dipole). However, in June 2013 – a non-drought year – Singapore's 24-hr Pollutants Standards Index reached an all-time record 246 (rated “very unhealthy”). Here, we show using remote sensing, rainfall records and other data, that the Indonesian fires behind the 2013 haze followed a two-month dry spell in a wetter-than-average year. These fires were short-lived (one week) and limited to a localized area in Central Sumatra (1.6% of Indonesia): burning an estimated 163,336 ha, including 137,044 ha (84%) on peat. Most burning was confined to deforested lands (82%; 133,216 ha). The greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions during this brief, localized event were considerable: 172 ± 59 Tg CO2-eq (or 31 ± 12 Tg C), representing 5–10% of Indonesia's mean annual GHG emissions for 2000–2005. Our observations show that extreme air pollution episodes in Southeast Asia are no longer restricted to drought years. We expect major haze events to be increasingly frequent because of ongoing deforestation of Indonesian peatlands.
 
Date 2014
2015-05-06T09:32:59Z
2015-05-06T09:32:59Z
 
Type Journal Article
 
Identifier Gaveau DLA, Salim MA, Hergoualc’h K, Locatelli B, Sloan S, Wooster M, Marlier ME, Molidena E, Yaen H, DeFries R, Verchot L, Murdiyarso D, Nasi R, Holmgren P, Sheil D. 2014. Major atmospheric emissions from peat fires in Southeast Asia during non-drought years: evidence from the 2013 Sumatran fires. Nature Scientific Reports 4:6112.
https://hdl.handle.net/10568/65685
https://doi.org/10.1038/srep06112
 
Language en
 
Rights CC-BY-4.0
Open Access
 
Format image/png
 
Publisher Springer Science and Business Media LLC
 
Source Nature Scientific Reports