Indonesians Battle Dangerous Air Quality as Wildfires Rage

Under a gray haze, commuters in Indonesia head to work as wildfires burn nearby. The city of Pontianak, capital of West Kalimantan province, has been covered in acrid smoke for weeks, choking residents. I do business normally, but my breathing is a bit impaired. Officials say forest fires have been burning on the Indonesian part of the island of Borneo due to intense weather conditions brought by El Niño. And the constant fires mean dangerous air quality. Indonesia's health ministry reported over 113,000 cases of upper respiratory tract infections since the fires began in January. Now, many try to stay indoors if possible, affecting the livelihoods of those who work outside. For now, my income is much lower because college and school students are doing online learning. Before the wildfire, I had a lot of customers. But since the wildfire, many people have been staying at home. Disaster management officials say Borneo needs water to fight the fires. But as the dry season drags on, they're looking to artificial means to make it rain. We want to maximize weather modification operations and water bombing. We believe that the wildfire extinguishing process in West Kalimantan will be more effective if there are natural rains or a combination of natural rain and rain as the result of weather modification. But until rain comes, residents must continue living in the haze, trying to get by day to day.