Fires raging across huge areas of Indonesia are spewing more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere every day than the US economy, according to estimates from global environment watchdogs. For nearly two months, thousands of fires caused by slash-and-burn farming have suffocated vast expanses of Southeast Asia with smog, causing respiratory illnesses to soar, schools to close, and scores of flights and some international events to be cancelled. Much of the burning is in tropical peatlands rich in carbon but which are being drained and cleared at a rapid rate to make way for agriculture, particularly fast-expanding palm oil plantations.

Carbon from Indonesia fires exceeds US emissions: green groups. (2015, October 23-24). BusinessWorld p. S3/4.