 Tens of thousands of fires have ravaged parts of Sumatran Kalimantan in the past two months. Indonesia estimates some 1.7 million hectares have been affected. The economic costs may rise well into the billions, and the country's greenhouse gas emissions could reach record levels. Scientists from the Centre for International Forestry Research, C4, found high levels of noxious chemicals in the haze. Since the fires started, more than half a million people have developed respiratory symptoms. Seasonal rains have begun, but 2015 is an El Nino year, so the threat is far from over. Some parts of this country are going to be naturally drier in February and March. Eastern Kalimantan, parts of Sumatra. And in an El Nino year, that dry season is going to be even more pronounced than it normally is. I expect that there will be another surge of fires. Putting out the flames is an enormous task, even with international support. Science can play a vital role in ensuring the right measures are put into place, unless effective steps are avoided. The reason that the government is digging ditches is to get access to water, but that water comes from within the peatland. Peat is organic matter that has a very high water table in it that slows down decomposition. And that's why the peat accumulates. When you dig a ditch, all that water comes out and into the ditch, which means that the peat now is drier, deeper in the profile, so it burns more. C4 is working with experts from Palancaraya University to measure the long-term effects of drainage and fire on the peatland. They've installed 22 field-based tools known as R-Set MH to show what's happening underground. We're doing measurements in the field, so we can read the elevation changes caused by fire, if there was fire before, and we can aggregate or extrapolate in our study area how much carbon loss is due to the peat fires. The second objective is we want to see the carbon loss due to the drainage. We want to see how many carbon losses are caused by drainage because of the underground processes. This research is just one example of how science can support strategies to help overcome the problem. But Vershaw warns that long-term solutions need to be implemented sooner rather than later. This fire and haze event was totally predictable. This problem can be solved. It's going to require strong political will. It's going to require a lot of people doing things differently. It also requires the incentives and creating the opportunities for people to do something different, to move off these peatlands and still find a way to make a living, to ensure their livelihoods and ensure the future of their families. That's what this is really all about. It has to be much more of a human story here, and solving it is really going to have to mean putting people at the center of the solution. Vershaw says long-term sustained finance is needed to provide these new opportunities for communities and to protect and restore forests and peatlands, something high in the agenda of the upcoming UN climate change conference in Paris.