if hell on earth really does exist then
Indonesia experienced it in 2015
welcome to watchmojo.com
in this installment we’re counting down
ten crucial facts you should know about
the Indonesian fire crisis number 10
what is the Indonesian fire crisis also
known as the Southeast Asian haze the
crisis is an annual fire and air
pollution disaster affecting Indonesia
in particular the 2015 crisis is the
worst recorded since 1997 in part
because of the El Nino warm weather
system inflicting unprecedented
destruction on two unique natural
environments and the endangered species
that live within them the fires also
pose a serious health risk to local
human populations in late October 2015
The Guardian journalist George Monbiot
described the events as quote almost
certainly the greatest environmental
disaster of the 21st century so far
number 9 which areas have been affected
Indonesia serves as the epicentre of the
crisis as it’s the country in which most
of the fires are lit the rainforests
rich island of Sumatra is especially
affected as is the Indonesian portion of
the island of Borneo Kalimantan
furthermore in early September 2015 the
problems were labeled an international
disaster after the air quality in
surrounding nations became affected
Malaysia Singapore Brunei Vietnam
Cambodia Thailand and the Philippines
have all to some extent suffered amid
the haze number 8 how did the fires
start probably the most shocking thing
about the fires is that they are not
naturally occurring they’re almost
entirely man-made huge areas of forest
and farmland are being purposefully set
alight as part of an industry tactic
known as slash-and-burn which rids land
of last season’s crop and makes way for
new plants of next
palm oil is a hugely important product
for the Indonesian economy with the
country ranking as the world’s number
one palm oil producer in the majority of
cases however the fire crisis originates
from oil palm plantations and the
hellish scenes can be attributed to them
number seven why are they starting the
fires as with many instances of
inhumanity money fuels the Indonesian
firestorm on a basic level it’s cheaper
for palm oil companies to burn new space
into existence regardless of the social
and environmental impact of their
actions there is government legislation
in place against the practice but the
legally authorized methods of ridding
land of unwanted unused crops are too
expensive and time consuming palm oil is
present within almost half of all
packaged supermarket products so for oil
producers the demand is great enough to
warrant the destruction public campaigns
and protests against the industry are
ongoing but evidence suggests that it
shows no signs of stopping number six
how has the government reacted on
September 4th 2015 it was confirmed that
six Indonesian provinces Riau Jambi
South Sumatra and South West and Central
Kalimantan had declared a state of
emergency on September 14th the central
indonesian government confirmed a second
state of emergency for Riau however the
government has been heavily criticised
for how it has subsequently handled the
fires with some real even writing to
Malaysian authorities seeking aid in the
absence of help from their own
government in general Indonesia has been
slow to accept foreign aid although as
of early October 2015 the government had
allowed some international assistance
number 5 what is the state of
Indonesia’s government in relation to
the fire crisis allegations of
corruption are being leveled at the
Indonesian government the problems may
not go to the very top but it’s believed
that local governments are almost
certainly linked to the ongoing
occurrence of what is an illegal
practice private companies are paying
bribe money to skirt the rule
in what some commentators call a mafioso
type setup these companies are then
headed into areas that should
technically be protected and burning
them off to make room for more farmland
critics also point toward the hesitation
to allow foreign aid as an attempt to
cover up corruption in Indonesian
provincial politics number four how have
these fires affected the population as
of November 2015 there were estimates
that as many as half a million people
were suffering from some form of
respiratory illness as a result of the
fires and the harmful gases they emit in
the worst affected areas the air was
sepia-toned with pollutant standard
index levels measuring at 2,000 where
anything above 300 is considered
dangerous to humans
skin and eye problems also rose
significantly and in the worst hit areas
at least 19 people had died from haze
related illness by early November 2015
schools were closed in Singapore and
Malaysia as well as Indonesia and
various outdoor events were called off
Indonesian warships were also on hand to
evacuate when necessary as the situation
seemed to get worse by the week number
three what does this mean for the
endangered animals an especially
worrying aspect of the fires is that
many endangered species are at best
being displaced at worst being killed
one-third of the world’s remaining
orangutan czar under threat while
environmentalists also fear for the
Sumatran tiger the Sumatran rhinoceros
the son bear and the Borneo pygmy
elephant the list of protected species
that could perish is a long one Borneo
is especially famed for its diverse
natural habitats which are home to the
world’s rarest animals but Indonesia is
the fastest forest clearing nation on
earth its reputation for conservation is
going up in flames as well number two
how does this affect the rest of the
world highest estimates claim the
Indonesian fire crisis is producing more
daily emissions than the entire United
State
in November 2015 pepp can Adele the head
of the global carbon project at the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization said that
atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may
have exceeded 400 parts per million in
some areas which is the highest
concentration for two million years the
areas that are being burned are
extremely rich in carbon meaning that
these fires could be up to 200 times
more damaging than others of their type
in total around 1 billion tons of carbon
has been released amid the disaster
potentially fast-forwarding us to years
closer to runaway climate change number
one what is being done to control the
fires with mounting pressure from the
international community to rein in its
emissions Indonesia is politically
obliged to tackle the fires but it must
do so for its own economy as well
despite the slash and burn tactics being
borne out of financial frugality the
disaster has spiraled out of control and
cost the nation over 30 billion dollars
the Indonesian military is now deployed
in an effort to end the crisis and
foreign aid from the likes of Australia
Japan and Singapore is now being
accepted these fires will eventually be
beaten but the corruption that caused
them will probably continue leaving
critics to lament the likelihood that a
similar situation will happen again did
these facts get you thinking to vote for
which news story is covered next
head over to watchmojo.com slash suggest
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week
you
[Music]
Indonesia experienced it in 2015
welcome to watchmojo.com
in this installment we’re counting down
ten crucial facts you should know about
the Indonesian fire crisis number 10
what is the Indonesian fire crisis also
known as the Southeast Asian haze the
crisis is an annual fire and air
pollution disaster affecting Indonesia
in particular the 2015 crisis is the
worst recorded since 1997 in part
because of the El Nino warm weather
system inflicting unprecedented
destruction on two unique natural
environments and the endangered species
that live within them the fires also
pose a serious health risk to local
human populations in late October 2015
The Guardian journalist George Monbiot
described the events as quote almost
certainly the greatest environmental
disaster of the 21st century so far
number 9 which areas have been affected
Indonesia serves as the epicentre of the
crisis as it’s the country in which most
of the fires are lit the rainforests
rich island of Sumatra is especially
affected as is the Indonesian portion of
the island of Borneo Kalimantan
furthermore in early September 2015 the
problems were labeled an international
disaster after the air quality in
surrounding nations became affected
Malaysia Singapore Brunei Vietnam
Cambodia Thailand and the Philippines
have all to some extent suffered amid
the haze number 8 how did the fires
start probably the most shocking thing
about the fires is that they are not
naturally occurring they’re almost
entirely man-made huge areas of forest
and farmland are being purposefully set
alight as part of an industry tactic
known as slash-and-burn which rids land
of last season’s crop and makes way for
new plants of next
palm oil is a hugely important product
for the Indonesian economy with the
country ranking as the world’s number
one palm oil producer in the majority of
cases however the fire crisis originates
from oil palm plantations and the
hellish scenes can be attributed to them
number seven why are they starting the
fires as with many instances of
inhumanity money fuels the Indonesian
firestorm on a basic level it’s cheaper
for palm oil companies to burn new space
into existence regardless of the social
and environmental impact of their
actions there is government legislation
in place against the practice but the
legally authorized methods of ridding
land of unwanted unused crops are too
expensive and time consuming palm oil is
present within almost half of all
packaged supermarket products so for oil
producers the demand is great enough to
warrant the destruction public campaigns
and protests against the industry are
ongoing but evidence suggests that it
shows no signs of stopping number six
how has the government reacted on
September 4th 2015 it was confirmed that
six Indonesian provinces Riau Jambi
South Sumatra and South West and Central
Kalimantan had declared a state of
emergency on September 14th the central
indonesian government confirmed a second
state of emergency for Riau however the
government has been heavily criticised
for how it has subsequently handled the
fires with some real even writing to
Malaysian authorities seeking aid in the
absence of help from their own
government in general Indonesia has been
slow to accept foreign aid although as
of early October 2015 the government had
allowed some international assistance
number 5 what is the state of
Indonesia’s government in relation to
the fire crisis allegations of
corruption are being leveled at the
Indonesian government the problems may
not go to the very top but it’s believed
that local governments are almost
certainly linked to the ongoing
occurrence of what is an illegal
practice private companies are paying
bribe money to skirt the rule
in what some commentators call a mafioso
type setup these companies are then
headed into areas that should
technically be protected and burning
them off to make room for more farmland
critics also point toward the hesitation
to allow foreign aid as an attempt to
cover up corruption in Indonesian
provincial politics number four how have
these fires affected the population as
of November 2015 there were estimates
that as many as half a million people
were suffering from some form of
respiratory illness as a result of the
fires and the harmful gases they emit in
the worst affected areas the air was
sepia-toned with pollutant standard
index levels measuring at 2,000 where
anything above 300 is considered
dangerous to humans
skin and eye problems also rose
significantly and in the worst hit areas
at least 19 people had died from haze
related illness by early November 2015
schools were closed in Singapore and
Malaysia as well as Indonesia and
various outdoor events were called off
Indonesian warships were also on hand to
evacuate when necessary as the situation
seemed to get worse by the week number
three what does this mean for the
endangered animals an especially
worrying aspect of the fires is that
many endangered species are at best
being displaced at worst being killed
one-third of the world’s remaining
orangutan czar under threat while
environmentalists also fear for the
Sumatran tiger the Sumatran rhinoceros
the son bear and the Borneo pygmy
elephant the list of protected species
that could perish is a long one Borneo
is especially famed for its diverse
natural habitats which are home to the
world’s rarest animals but Indonesia is
the fastest forest clearing nation on
earth its reputation for conservation is
going up in flames as well number two
how does this affect the rest of the
world highest estimates claim the
Indonesian fire crisis is producing more
daily emissions than the entire United
State
in November 2015 pepp can Adele the head
of the global carbon project at the
Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization said that
atmospheric carbon dioxide levels may
have exceeded 400 parts per million in
some areas which is the highest
concentration for two million years the
areas that are being burned are
extremely rich in carbon meaning that
these fires could be up to 200 times
more damaging than others of their type
in total around 1 billion tons of carbon
has been released amid the disaster
potentially fast-forwarding us to years
closer to runaway climate change number
one what is being done to control the
fires with mounting pressure from the
international community to rein in its
emissions Indonesia is politically
obliged to tackle the fires but it must
do so for its own economy as well
despite the slash and burn tactics being
borne out of financial frugality the
disaster has spiraled out of control and
cost the nation over 30 billion dollars
the Indonesian military is now deployed
in an effort to end the crisis and
foreign aid from the likes of Australia
Japan and Singapore is now being
accepted these fires will eventually be
beaten but the corruption that caused
them will probably continue leaving
critics to lament the likelihood that a
similar situation will happen again did
these facts get you thinking to vote for
which news story is covered next
head over to watchmojo.com slash suggest
and be sure to hit that subscribe button
for more newsworthy top 10s published
every week
you
[Music]
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