Asia Times | Choking and gasping in Indonesia’s noxious haze | Article
▻https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/09/article/choking-and-gasping-in-indonesias-noxious-haze
Most of the haze is caused by peat, vast underground deposits of carbon that only ignite during an El Nino-induced drought. But Sumatra is also affected by the Indian Ocean Dipole, where the western waters become alternately warmer and then colder than the eastern part of the ocean.
Longer term climate predictions aren’t encouraging. A 10-year-long study released in 2014 showed that the sea current, pushing warm waters from the western Pacific into the Indian Ocean through Indonesia’s network of straits, is also acting differently and could transform the climate in both ocean basins as a result.