印度尼西亚坤甸：连日来的喜雨让印尼坤甸市居民终于松了一口气。在数周暴露于令人窒息的有毒烟霾之后，这场雨带来了缓解；烟霾源自婆罗洲岛肆虐的野火。
PONTIANAK, Indonesia: Welcome rain has brought relief to residents of Indonesia's Pontianak city after weeks of exposure to a cloying, toxic haze given off by rampant wildfires on Borneo island.
野火已经烧遍婆罗洲岛及邻近苏门答腊岛大片泥炭地和森林区域，由此产生的烟霾还飘向邻国马来西亚和新加坡。据官员介绍，浓重的烟霾限制了坤甸这座约70万人口城市的户外活动，学校被迫停课，自上月以来，该地区已记录数千起呼吸道疾病病例。
Fires have torn through vast swathes of peat and forest areas on Borneo and nearby Sumatra island, with the resulting haze drifting also to neighbouring Malaysia and Singapore The thick smog had limited outdoor activities in Pontianak, a city of about 700,000 people, with schools forced to shutter and thousands of respiratory cases recorded in the region since last month, according to officials.
家庭主妇莉利斯·苏尔亚尼说，近几天的降雨带来了令人欣慰的缓解；她一直担心烟霾会影响子女健康。
Rains in recent days have brought a welcome respite, said homemaker Lilis Suryani, who has been worrying about the effects of the haze on her children's health.
“雨后，我立刻感觉到了变化。空气好多了，能见度也清晰了，”这位43岁的女子告诉法新社。
"After the rain, I immediately felt the difference. The air was better, and the visibility was clearer," the 43-year-old told AFP.
23岁的大学生乌雷·罗莎·费布里安蒂表示，“这场雨意义重大……它不仅让空气变得凉爽，也让我们看到了形势开始好转的希望。”“我认为这是上天的恩赐。”
University student Uray Rosa Febrianti, 23, said that "the rain means a lot ... not only to cool the air, but also to give hope that the situation is beginning to improve". "I see it as a gift from God."
印度尼西亚已在受灾地区部署消防员，并在志愿者协助下开展灭火工作，同时采取人工增雨和空中投水灭火等措施，但成效有限。
Indonesia has deployed firefighters assisted by volunteers across affected areas, and used cloud-seeding and water-bombing, with limited success.
据总部位于瑞士的监测机构IQAir的数据，周二某一时刻，坤甸的PM2.5污染水平仍超过世界卫生组织安全限值的23倍。
The level of PM2.5 pollution in Pontianak was still more than 23 times the World Health Organization's safe limit at one point on Tuesday, according to IQAir, a Switzerland-based monitor.
本月早些时候，该市PM2.5浓度一度超过建议上限的100倍。
Earlier this month, levels of PM2.5 in the city were over 100 times the recommended cap.
PM2.5颗粒极其微小，能够深入肺部，甚至进入血液循环，可能对健康造成严重后果。
PM2.5 particles are so small they can enter deep into the lungs and even the bloodstream, with potentially dire consequences for health.
印度尼西亚在旱季经常遭遇野火，而婆罗洲岛的旱季通常在7月至9月达到高峰。
Indonesia regularly battles wildfires during the dry season, which in Borneo typically peaks between July and September.
今年火灾加剧，部分原因是厄尔尼诺天气现象；它或将成为四十年前有相关记录以来最强的厄尔尼诺现象之一。厄尔尼诺现象通常会使印度尼西亚遭遇严重干旱。
The fires have intensified this year in part because of the El Nino weather phenomenon, set to be one of the strongest since comparable records began four decades ago. El Nino typically brings severe drought to Indonesia.
专家还指出，刀耕火种式的毁林活动改变了当地原本天然具备防火能力的生态环境。
Experts have also pointed to slash-and-burn land-clearing practices that have changed the naturally fire-resistant landscape.