Indonesia has started dropping dry ice over South Sumatra to see if it can break up the thick haze from forest and peatland fires. The first runs on October 15-16 targeted areas near Palembang airport, where smoke had cut visibility. Officials say visibility improved from about 1,000 to 3,000 meters during the operation, but they are not sure whether the dry ice or shifting weather deserves the credit. The dry ice is meant to weaken temperature inversions that trap smoke near the ground. South Sumatra is the first test site, and the government will decide later whether to use the method elsewhere. The province had 189 high-confidence fire hotspots as of October 16. The experiment comes during Indonesia's worst fire season since 2015. Estimates put the burned area between 637,000 and 900,000 hectares, and haze has reached Malaysia and Singapore. More than 283,000 respiratory illness cases have been recorded across seven provinces. Indonesia has deployed over 60,000 personnel and 50 aircraft to fight the fires.
