INDONESIA — Joint research from Columbia and Harvard universities suggests that haze from the 2015 Indonesian forest fires could have led to the deaths of over 100,000 people.
The study, published in the journal Environmental Research Letter, estimates that smog may have been responsible for 91,600 people in Indonesia, 6,500 people in Malaysia and 2,200 people in Singapore. The study did not investigate the impact of the smog on children and infants.
Smog from last year’s forest fires produced PM 2.5, a highly dangerous particulate matter. It can cause a variety of health problems including lung cancer and cardiovascular disease, the New York Times reported.
Scientists say last year’s man-made forest fires in Indonesian Borneo and Sumatra — along with their resulting haze — were the worst recorded. Those fires were started to make way for agricultural production.
A Greenpeace campaigner told the New York Times that despite being illegal, this practice is commonplace in various parts of Indonesia.
