A recent study published in the journal Nature, shows a strong
link between El Nino and increased air pollution in Indonesia to
the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand. This is because during
an El Nino, rainfall is typically lighter than normal in that
part of the world. Farmers in the region thus increase the use
of fire to burn and clear the land for agriculture in El Nino
years. The additional pollution is believed to be responsible
for as many as 15,000 fatalities in El Nino years. The study
which was conducted jointly by Columbia University and NASA’s
Goddard Institute for Space Studies used emissions estimates
taken from satellite measurements from 1997 to 2006. They fed
the data into atmospheric chemistry models to plot out air
pollution for the region. For example during the strong El Nino
of 1997, their analysis showed that there was a jump in the
amount of fine particles in the atmosphere exceeding World
Health Organization standards by 300% for at least 200 days of
the year. Ozone levels, a compone