‘Our world is yellow’: Fears for children as sickening smog blankets Indonesia

**Lead**

A thick, acrid blanket of smog has settled over large parts of Indonesia, with authorities warning that hazardous air pollution is now posing a serious threat to children’s health. The phrase ‘Our world is yellow’ has been shared by worried parents as the sky in several provinces remains shrouded in a sickly yellow haze caused by widespread forest and peatland fires. The crisis, which has intensified in recent weeks, has forced school closures, disrupted flights and triggered an escalation in the use of face masks, particularly among families with young children.

**Context**

The annual dry season in Indonesia has long brought an increased risk of fires, particularly in the peat-rich regions of Sumatra and Kalimantan. This year, however, satellite data indicated a significant number of fire hotspots, and smoke from those blazes has drifted across the region, creating hazardous levels of airborne particulate matter. The Indonesian authorities have deployed water-bombing aircraft and cloud-seeding operations in an effort to curb the blazes, but the scale of the burning has tested the limits of emergency response.

In several affected provinces, local governments reported that air quality readings had entered the “unhealthy” to “hazardous” range, with concentrations of fine particulate matter known as PM2.5 reaching levels far above the safety guidelines recommended by the World Health Organization. PM2.5 is particularly dangerous because its microscopic particles can penetrate deep into the lungs and even enter the bloodstream, aggravating respiratory conditions and causing serious developmental health risks for children. Paediatric health experts have repeatedly warned that prolonged exposure to such pollution can impair lung growth, worsen asthma and increase susceptibility to pneumonia and other respiratory infections, making the current episode a particularly acute concern for infants and school-age children.

The severity of the situation has led many families to take extraordinary precautions. Reports from cities such as Palembang and Pontianak described long queues outside pharmacies for masks and air purifiers, with parents struggling to protect their children from smoke that infused homes and classrooms. Some schools in the worst-affected districts suspended in-person lessons, and guidance has been issued advising outdoor activities to be minimised. Yet in poorer and more rural communities, access to protective equipment and healthcare remains limited, raising fears that the most vulnerable children will bear the brunt of the crisis.

The fires are not a purely natural phenomenon. Environmental organisations and forestry experts have linked the recurring blazes to land-clearing practices, including slash-and-burn techniques used to prepare land for agriculture and plantations. Despite government efforts to enforce a ban on such burning, enforcement is uneven, and peatland areas remain especially susceptible to fires that smoulder beneath the surface and release vast quantities of smoke. As climate conditions become hotter and drier, experts say these fires are likely to remain a fixture of the dry season unless underlying land management practices change significantly.

**Analysis**

The impact of this year’s smog extends far beyond the immediate discomfort of itchy eyes and sore throats. For children, the consequences can be lasting. Medical studies conducted in regions repeatedly exposed to severe haze have shown measurable harm to lung function in adolescents, and scientists have stressed that no threshold of exposure to fine particulate matter is completely safe. With many children still recovering from the wider health disruptions of recent years, health professionals are increasingly concerned that the current emergency will compound pre-existing vulnerabilities.

There is also a worrying economic dimension to the crisis. School closures, flight cancellations and reduced productivity across several provinces impose real costs on households already navigating difficult economic conditions. Tourism, supply chains and even cross-border relations can be affected when thick smoke drifts beyond national boundaries. Neighbouring countries have occasionally experienced air quality deterioration but on this occasion the response from Jakarta will be watched closely both locally and abroad.

The situation underscores a broader regional challenge: how to balance the immediate imperative of extinguishing dangerous fires with the long-term need to reform land-use policies and strengthen environmental oversight. While the Indonesian government has moved to boost firefighting capacity and pledged to improve law enforcement, activists and community leaders argue that sustainable solutions must involve local communities, private plantation owners and state agencies working together. They point to the importance of restoring peatland water levels and promoting agricultural alternatives to burning as critical steps toward breaking the cycle of annual toxic haze.

In the meantime, the human cost is visible in the faces of parents and children alike. The phrase ‘Our world is yellow’ captures both the surreal appearance of the sky and the anxiety of families trapped in a public health emergency that shows no immediate sign of abating. The imperative now is to protect those who are least able to protect themselves — and to confront the deeper drivers of a problem that has turned an ordinary season into a recurring ordeal for millions.

**Fontes**

This report is based on publicly available information from the Indonesian Ministry of Environment and Forestry, disaster management agency statements, air quality monitoring data referenced by regional environmental offices, World Health Organization guidelines on particulate matter, and credible international media reports from the affected regions.