How Haze and Peat Fires Work

In October 2026 Indonesia fought its worst forest fires in more than a decade, and smoke covered parts of Malaysia, Singapore and beyond. This film explains where that haze comes from: tropical peat, a soil made of plants that never rotted; the canals that drain it; fire used to clear land; why peat smoulders underground for weeks and is so hard to put out; how El Niño and the monsoon decide how bad a year is and where the smoke goes; what fine particles do in the lungs; and what keeping peat wet can do.

The fire beneath the forest

Where Southeast Asia’s haze really comes from.

A forest standing on water

Ground made of plants that never rotted.

Draining the swamp

To farm a swamp, you first have to empty it.

The fire underground

A fire with no flame, that rain cannot reach.

Weather that feeds fire

An ocean away, the Pacific decides how dry the peat gets.

Smoke in the lungs

What matters is how small the particles are.

Keeping peat wet

Treaties, laws, and a lot of small dams.

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