It was an unusual day for citizens in Indonesia as they witnessed a ‘blood red sky’ over the region on 23rd September due to the forest fires. The blood red haze occurred over the region due to the interaction of the sunlight on particles from smoke in the air, which is also known as the Rayleigh scattering.
This unusual occurrence generated a buzz on social media, with many sharing pictures and videos of the “blood red” sky that caused panic among the locals.
You see, slash-and-burn farming techniques in this country is often the cause of forest fires but the situation aggravated due to El Nino (unusual winds that cause warm surface water from the equator to move east towards Central and South America).
However, the haze caused by land clearing fires this year was among the worst the country had witnessed till date. A state of emergency has been declared in 6 provinces due to the same.
This was certainly a phenomena that you don’t get to witness every day and even netizens couldn’t believe what they were seeing.
More than 73,000 fire alerts have been sent across the country since the beginning of September alone, causing flight cancellations and closures of schools.