\'This is not Mars\': Indonesia skies turn blood red after forest fires

Jakarta: Over the weekend, skies over an Indonesian province turned red due to the widespread forest fires which have plunged huge parts of the country.

Every year, fires in Indonesia create a smoky haze that can end up blanketing the entire South East Asian region, a BBC report said.

According IANS report, a meteorology expert said the unusual sky was caused by a phenomenon known as Rayleigh scattering.

Eka Wulandari, from the Mekar Sari village in Jambi province, captured the blood-red skies in a series of photos taken at around midday on Saturday. The haze conditions had been especially "thick that [day]", she said.

The 21-year-old posted the pictures on Facebook. They have since been shared more than 34,000 times.

Another Twitter user posted a video showing similarly coloured skies.

"This is not Mars. This is Jambi," said user Zuni Shofi Yatun Nisa. "We humans need clean air, not smoke."

Indonesia meteorological agency BMKG said satellite imagery revealed numerous hot spots and "thick smoke distribution" in the area around the Jambi region.

This year's haze levels have been some of the worst in years.

The haze is caused by open burning in Indonesia and to a lesser extent, parts of Malaysia. The burning usually peaks from July to October during Indonesia's dry season.