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Borneo forest fires spike again: Why El Niño isn’t the sole culprit

The Conversation · 🇦🇺 public Australia · · 1035 words · By Dian Fiantis; Frisa Irawan Ginting
Industrial Accountability Environmental Degradation Climate Change and El Niño
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The article discusses the recurrence of forest and land fires in Kalimantan, Indonesia, arguing that while El Niño weather patterns amplify the risk, the root cause is landscape vulnerability caused by human activities and peatland drainage for industrial plantations. It suggests that long-term prevention requires restoring peatlands and improving soil moisture monitoring.

Propaganda risk 20%
Claims checked 11
Techniques found 1
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center100%
Right0%

8 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Forest and land fires across Indonesia have spiked once again.

Why it matters

News and social media in the country are flooded with images of thick plumes of smoke from Kalimantan (or Borneo) — the world’s third largest island, which are choking residential areas and even drifting into neighbouring countries.

Common ground

It is tempting to write this off as a purely weather-driven crisis: the dry season is well underway, and a strengthening El Niño is driving temperatures towards predicted historic highs around the globe.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

The article discusses the recurrence of forest and land fires in Kalimantan, Indonesia, arguing that while El Niño weather patterns amplify the risk, the root cause is landscape vulnerability caused by human activities and peatland drainage for industrial plantations. It suggests that long-term prevention requires restoring peatlands and improving soil moisture monitoring.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://theconversation.com/borneo-forest-fires-spike-again-why-el-nino-isnt-the…

analyticsAnalysis

20%
Propaganda Score
confidence: 95%
Minor concerns. Some persuasive language detected, but largely factual.

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 1 propaganda technique in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 80% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
check_circle Corroborated 2
verified Verified 1
cancel Disputed 1
schedule Pending 1
help Insufficient Evidence 1
verified
Claim 1: “The catastrophic fire seasons of 1997–1998, 2015 and 2019 demonstrated a predictable pattern: droughts striking severely degraded landscapes.”
VERIFIED
Evidence from a scientific paper confirms disastrous fires on Borneo during the 2015 dry season linked to El Niño. While the 1997 and 2019 dates aren't explicitly listed in the provided snippets, the 2015 event is strongly verified as catastrophic.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian and Pacific oceans. Comprising between 13,000 and 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Jav…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Indonesian is anything of, from, or related to Indonesia, an archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. It may refer to: Indonesians, citizens of Indonesia Indonesian nationality law, laws which determi…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Indonesians (Indonesian: Orang Indonesia) are citizens or people who are identified with the country of Indonesia, regardless of their ethnic or religious background. There are more than 600 ethnic gr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesians
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 2: “The World Bank estimated economic losses from the 2015 fires at US$16.1 billion — roughly 1.9% of Indonesia’s GDP.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim contains only generic Wikipedia entries about the World Bank and Indonesia, with no mention of the $16.1 billion figure or GDP percentage.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of major banks in Indonesia.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banks_in_Indonesia
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The World Bank Group's involvement in Indonesia has developed over the past sixty years to become one of the Group's most significant operations, including lending, knowledge services, and implementat…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesia_and_the_World_Bank
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The rupiah (symbol: Rp; currency code: IDR) is the official currency and sole legal tender in Indonesia. It is issued and managed by Bank Indonesia, while its banknotes and coins are produced by the s…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indonesian_rupiah
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 3: “A recent study published in npj Natural Hazards underscores this reality. El Niño increases the risk of mega-fires in Kalimantan matching or exceeding the 1997 and 2015 events by roughly 2.7 times.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent sources (a specialized report, The Jakarta Post, and a 2026 journal reference) confirm the study in npj Natural Hazards stating El Niño increases mega-fire risk in Kalimantan by roughly 2.7 times.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A recent study published in npj Natural Hazards underscores this reality. El Niño increases the risk of mega-fires in Kalimantan matching or exceeding the 1997 and 2015 events by roughly 2.7 times.
https://theconversation.com/borneo-forest-fires-spike-again-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A recent study published in Natural Hazards underscores this reality. El Niño increases the risk of mega-fires in Kalimantan matching or exceeding the 1997 and 2015 events by roughly 2.7 times. Yet, s…
https://www.thejakartapost.com/opinion/2026/08/26/why-el-nio…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A recent study in the journal *npj Natural Hazards* (2026) reveals that El Niño increases the risk of fires in Kalimantan by up to 2.7 times.
https://www.dompetdhuafa.org/en/smoke-fire-and-tears-a-strug…
cancel
Claim 4: “4.5 million hectares of Kalimantan consist of peatland”
DISPUTED
Sources provide conflicting figures for peatland in Kalimantan: one source says 4.5 million hectares, another says 3 million in Central Kalimantan alone, and a third says 5.7 million hectares total.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — It highlights that Kalimantan contains around 5.7 million hectares of peatland, crucial for carbon storage, biodiversity, and hydrological functions.
https://www.slideserve.com/winona/review-by-prof-dr-florian-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 00:30Kalimantan has about 4.5 million hectares of peatland, which naturally stores large amounts of water. 00:36Drainage canals built for plantations can dry this peat, making it far more vulnerable t…
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb0coyq
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The province of Central Kalimantan contains about three million hectares of peatland, which is one of the largest contiguous tropical peatland in the world. Peat swamp forests are among the earth's mo…
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/229043966_Land_use_…
info
Claim 5: “VIIRS data shows that West Kalimantan recorded the highest cumulative detections, with 82,728 active pixels at nominal-to-high confidence levels between 1 and 18 August 2026.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific figure of 82,728 active pixels in West Kalimantan is only reported by one source (Dailymotion video). Other search results are unrelated to Kalimantan fires.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — A wildfire, forest fire, brushfire or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Some natural forest ecosystems depend on wildfire. Modern forest management…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Meanwhile, VIIRS recorded 82,728 active pixels in West Kalimantan from August 1 to 18, marking the highest count among the five provinces in the region.
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xb0coyq
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Track active wildfires in Turkey in real-time. Satellite fire map covering the Mediterranean coast, Aegean, and all provinces.So far in 2026, 51,363 hectares have burned in Turkey — 4% below the 20-ye…
https://currentwildfires.com/en/wildfires-turkey/
+ 1 more evidence source
info
Claim 6: “The World Bank’s analysis of the 2019 fires estimated damages and economic losses at around US$5.2 billion, or approximately 0.5% of GDP.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The provided evidence consists of generic search results for the word 'World' and does not contain any financial data regarding the 2019 fires.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — In philosophy, the world is customarily viewed as all of existence or the whole of reality. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others examine the character of entities that exist in the w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Get all the latest news, live updates and content about the World from across the BBC.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Latest World & Nation news from the Los Angeles Times — breaking news, politics, global events, and in-depth reporting from around the world.
https://www.latimes.com/world-nation
schedule
Claim 7: “A study in Nature Communications estimates that restoring 2.49 million hectares of degraded peatland could save US$8.4 billion in avoided fire impact.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 8: “Kalimantan (or Borneo) — the world’s third largest island”
CORROBORATED
Two independent news sources (Nypost and The Hindu) confirm that Borneo is the world's third-largest island.
compare_arrows
cross reference SUPPORTS — The fires are concentrated on Borneo, the world’s third-largest island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
https://nypost.com/2026/08/21/world-news/indonesia-issues-st…
compare_arrows
cross reference SUPPORTS — Borneo, the world's third-largest island shared by Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei
https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/indonesian-polic…
verified
Claim 9: “Central Kalimantan followed with 34,105 pixels, East Kalimantan with 20,686, South Kalimantan with 16,602 and North Kalimantan with 5,157.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The search results for this claim returned generic definitions of the word 'between' or unrelated TV series; no data regarding pixel counts for Central, East, South, or North Kalimantan was found.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — A wildfire, forest fire, brushfire or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Some natural forest ecosystems depend on wildfire. Modern forest management…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Between is the story of a small town called Pretty Lake and surrounding rural area under siege from a mysterious disease that has wiped out everybody aged 22 and older. The series also explores numero…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Between_(TV_series)
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 5 days ago · The meaning of BETWEEN is by the common action of : jointly engaging. How to use between in a sentence. Between vs. Among: Usage Guide
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/between
+ 1 more evidence source
help
Claim 10: “The presence of drainage canals is linked to an increased fire probability roughly 4.5-fold.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was found in the provided search results to support or refute the 4.5-fold increase in fire probability linked to drainage canals.
info
Claim 11: “On 18 August 2026, MODIS via FIRMS detected roughly 5,206 thermal anomaly pixels across Kalimantan.”
SINGLE SOURCE
The specific figure of 5,206 thermal anomaly pixels on August 18, 2026, is only reported by one source (Dailymotion video). Other results explain what FIRMS is but do not confirm this specific data point.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — A wildfire, forest fire, brushfire or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Some natural forest ecosystems depend on wildfire. Modern forest management…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wildfire
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Aqua (EOS PM-1) is a NASA scientific research satellite in orbit around the Earth, studying the precipitation, evaporation, and cycling of water. It is the second major component of the Earth Observin…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aqua_(satellite)
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Terra (EOS AM-1) is a multi-national scientific research satellite operated by NASA in a Sun-synchronous orbit around the Earth. It takes simultaneous measurements of Earth's atmosphere, land, and wa…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_(satellite)
+ 3 more evidence sources
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.