NASA photo shows smoke from Indonesia wildfires smothering Malaysia

NASA’s image of the day on 3 Sept showed smoke from the wildfires in Indonesia covering the country’s skies as well as Malaysia.

In the photo, red dots highlighting the fires can be seen as the sources of the smoke, which blew north from Indonesia.

According to the page, the photo was taken on 1 Sept by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite.

Peat fires a recurring issue for Indonesia

An article accompanying NASA’s image of the day states that “peat fires are a recurring challenge in Indonesia”.

The country is home to 36% of the world’s tropical peatlands.

These are wetland ecosystems where the water prevents plant material from decomposing, wh...