5 Things to Know About the Haze in Southeast Asia

What is causing the haze and why? The haze comes from fires set to clear forest land for agriculture, often palm-oil plantations. It is an annual occurrence but many researchers say it is worse this year because of severe drought caused by El Nino. Herry Purnomo, a researcher at the Center for International Forestry Research, says clearing land by fire is fast and about 10 times cheaper than using machinery. Demand for cleared land has risen alongside demand for palm oil, which is found in a wide variety of products including shampoo and ice cream, he said. Indonesia is the world’s biggest producer of the commodity and plantations owned by Indonesian, Malaysian and Singaporean companies earned about $18.4 billion in revenue last year, Mr. Purnomo said.