London, Feb 23 : A new study has revealed that severe fires in Indonesia, responsible for some of the worst air quality conditions worldwide, are not only associated with drought, but also with changes in land use and population density.
"During the late 1970s, Indonesian Borneo changed from being highly fire-resistant to highly fire-prone during drought years, marking the period when one of the world''s great tropical forests became one of the world''s largest sources of pollution," said Robert Field of at University of Toronto.