El Niño and Southeast Asia

Many in Southeast Asia will remember the last strong El Niño event, in 1997-98. Then, fires, fueled by a drier rainy reason in many parts of Indonesia, burned an estimated 5 million hectares, creating a haze that chocked much of the region. “Even without El Niño fire is here in Indonesia every year,” said Herry Purnomo, a Scientist focusing on smallholder and community forestry at the Bogor, Indonesia Center for International Forestry Research. “We are afraid [this coming year] fires will be much much bigger.”