Toxic wildfire haze spreads across South East Asia as 'super' El Niño intensifies

Some 1,300 kilometres away, in the Philippine island province of Palawan, residents reported similar symptoms, including itchy eyes, nose and throat."We are now experiencing mild headaches," said Dr Precious Bañas-Melad. "My cousin who isn't allergic to anything started developing allergies. My husband is the first one who had itchy eyes and throat."Malaysia, meanwhile, has reported rising cases of asthma and conjunctivitis amid worsening air quality nationwide as smoke continues to drift across the border.Getty ImagesCountries across Southeast Asia are reporting harmful levels of air pollutionIndonesia's forest and peatland fires are not a new phenomenon. Experts say the crisis is rooted in decades of land-use change, dating back to the Suharto era, when vast areas of rainforest and peatland in Kalimantan were opened for logging, plantations and large-scale development projects.Today, large-scale fires are often associated with the expansion of industrial plantations and other commercial land use. Environmental groups, researchers, and government investigations have repeatedly alleged that some companies use fire as a cheap and effective way to clear vast areas of land.Some point out that while drought and El Niño conditions help fires spread, the severity of the haze is also linked to human activity. Drained peatlands, industrial timber estates and oil palm plantations can leave landscapes more vulnerable to burning, with fires often recurring in the same areas.Unlike traditional practices, which are small-scale, community-managed, and closely monitored, fires linked to large-scale land development can be far more difficult to control and can cause environmental and public health impacts on a much larger scale.