# El Niño drove drought, but climate change intensified Indonesia’s fire crisis: Study

Source: [Conservation news](https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/el-nino-drove-drought-but-climate-change-intensified-indonesias-fire-crisis-study/) · 2026-11-13 · Life
Page: https://themorning.science/story/el-nino-drove-drought-but-climate-change-intensified-indonesia-s-fire-crisis-stu-1d71f5dd50c3522d
Kind: research · Impact: medium

## In brief

- Researchers say a strong El Niño was the main driver of this year's Indonesian wildfires, with climate change and decades of landscape destruction also contributing.
- A rapid analysis by World Weather Attribution (WWA) found that human-caused climate change significantly amplified extreme heat during Indonesia's 2026 fire season.
- The El Niño-driven drought became a severe regional crisis, according to the study.

## Why it matters

The findings separate the natural climate driver of the fires from the amplifying effect of human-caused warming, which matters for how future fire seasons in the region are anticipated and managed.

## Timeline

- 2026-11-13: Researchers publish findings attributing Indonesia's 2026 wildfires to El Niño, with climate change amplifying extreme heat

## Coverage

- [El Niño drove drought, but climate change intensified Indonesia’s fire crisis: Study](https://news.mongabay.com/short-article/2026/11/el-nino-drove-drought-but-climate-change-intensified-indonesias-fire-crisis-study/) — Conservation news, 2026-11-13
- [El Niño mostly to blame for Indonesian wildfires: Research](https://phys.org/news/2026-11-el-nio-blame-indonesian-wildfires.html) — Earth News - Earth Science News, Earth Science, Climate Change, 2026-11-13

Tags: wildfires, el niño, indonesia, climate change, attribution, drought

---

Brief generated by AI (claude-haiku-5-5) from the reporting listed under Coverage. Headlines belong to their publishers. The Morning Science – https://themorning.science