Heavy smoke hangs over the Indonesian islands of Bangka and Belitung as well as Kalimantan (73% of the island of Borneo, excluding East Malaysia and Brunei). This thick smoke comes from the peat fires that have engulfed these peatlands. On September 11, 2019, NASA/NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite using the VIIRS instrument (Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite) captured this dramatic photo of the smoke rising from these islands in Indonesia.
In August 1883 the eruption of the Krakatoa (Indonesian Krakatau) volcano on Rakata Island between Java and Sumatra, in the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia), was one of the most powerful in recorded history. Explosions were heard 2,200 miles (3,500 km) away in Australia as ash and rock was blasted to a height of 50 miles (80 km) in the atmosphere.
According to Encyclopaedia Britannica, "Krakatoa threw into the air nearly 5 cubic miles (21 cubic km) of rock fragments, and large quantities of ash fell over an area of some 300,000 square miles (800,000 square km). Near the volcano, masses of floating pumice were so thick as to halt ships. The surrounding region was plunged into darkness for two and a half days because of ash in the air. The fine dust drifted several times around the Earth, causing spectacular red and orange sunsets throughout the following year."
The remanent of Pulau Rikata is now called Pulau Krakatau.
In recent decades, Indonesia has become a leader in draining rain forest peatlands, then setting fires while polluting its own atmosphere and that of neighbouring countries.
Currently, CO2 emissions from drained or burned peatlands amount to 10% of all annual fossil fuel emissions and fires on peatlands release three to six times more particulate matter — in the form of minute separate particles — than fires on other types of soil.
Peatlands are located across the world and Ireland, lacking significant coal resources, has relied on peat (turf) as a fuel for centuries. The poem 'Caoineadh Cill Cáis / The Keening of Kilcash' written in Gaelic, "Cad a dheanfaimid feasta gan adhmad/ tá deireadh na gcoillte ar lár" ("Now what will we do for timber/ with the last of the woods laid low?") in the 18th century lamented deforestation. Today Bord na Móna (the State peat board) which has 2,000 direct employees and another 2,000 in support industries, is winding down its traditional activities. It has 200,000 acres of land and is investing in wind and solar power, and in recycling.
Researchers in recent times updated data on tropical peatlands:
"South America hosts the most tropical peatland both by area and by volume (ca. 44% for both). This is partly related to a few large deep peat deposits that had not been mapped previously. However, the most important newly mapped peat areas are extensive shallow peat deposits in the Amazon Basin.
This new analysis also shows that Asia has extensive peatlands, and hosts 38% of both tropical peat area and volume, with Indonesia as the main regional contributor. Indonesia also still holds the deepest peat deposits in the tropics. Africa hosts more peat than previously reported but climatic and topographic contexts leave it as the least peat forming continent, despite of some massive peat deposits such as the Cuvette Centrale in the Congo Basin."