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We used OCO-2 products and considered three factors that potentially affect CO2 concentration in Indonesia: sea surface temperature (SST), forest fires and vegetation. From 2014 to 2016, CO2 concentration in Indonesia showed a trend of increase, which is consistent with the global increase reported by the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite (GOSAT) Project. As an archipelago country, the results indicate that SST has a direct effect on the CO2 concentration in Indonesia. Their changing exhibits similar fluctuations; meanwhile, CO2 concentration and SST also presented positive correlation. In 2015, the number of fire hotspots suddenly increased to 140,699, because of occurrence of the worst forest fire. Due to special geographic conditions, forest fires did not induce CO2 concentration changes in Indonesia, but CO2 concentration in the corresponding islands showed a trend of increase. CO2 concentration increased in Kalimantan during the occurrence of forest fire in September-October 2014, and CO2 concentration increased in Kalimantan and Sumatra during the occurrence of forest fire in September-October 2015. Vegetation indices were stable and presented no correlation with CO2 concentration. This study demonstrated that OCO-2 is capable of monitoring CO2 concentration at a regional scale; additionally, an effective method for using OCO-2 Level 2 products is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The health burden from exposure to ambient fine particulates (PM 2.5) in Equatorial Asia is substantially affected by the peatland fires in Indonesia, but the long-term health effect of the fires on local inhabitants is unclear. In this study, PM 2.5 -associated excess mortality in Equatorial Asia over the past 30 years (1990–2019) was estimated and then the health effect of biomass burning was identified. The PM 2.5 -related death in Equatorial Asia almost tripled from 113 (95% confidence interval, 100–125) thousand in 1990 to 337 (300–373) thousand in 2019, with a rate of increase of 6.4 (6.2–6.9) thousand/yr. The intense biomass burning between 1990 and 2019 was estimated to have induced 317 (282–348) thousand excess deaths in the study regions, with excess deaths mainly occurring in the El Niño years, such as in 1997, 2006, 2015 and 2019. Although the remote sensing data and emission inventories both reveal that the effective control measures have reduced biomass burning intensity in Equatorial Asia (especially in Sumatra and Borneo), the corresponding health benefit has been offset by variations in demographic factors, i.e., population and age structure. Over the same period, fossil fuel emissions continued to increase rapidly. Thus, more stringent and ambitious policies are required to reduce the health burden from biomass burning and anthropogenic emissions simultaneously to maximize the health benefits from government measures and policies. • The PM 2.5 -related death in Equatorial Asia almost tripled from 1990 to 2019. • Biomass burning intensity in Equatorial Asia has substantially declined. • The benefits of the improved air quality were offset by variations in the demographic factors. • The intense BB from 1990 to 2019 is estimated to have induced 317 thousand of excess deaths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]