Indonesia, as we know is a very bio-diverse and rich country in terms of environmental thickness and the size of its two biggest forests, in Borneo and Sumatra, along with its humongous amount of islands (and no, Indonesia is not just about Bali). Over the decades, Indonesia's forests have been depleting. Research papers have indicated that this has a lagged effect on the local regional warming of the climate. But that is an obvious correlation.
Why is Indonesia's case special? Its special because of its carbon-rich peatlands that grow palm oil trees in the vast ever expanding plantations all over the country, but especially over Borneo (Kalimantan, in the local language) and Sumatra. The reason why palm oil is cheaper than any other vegetable oil such as soybean oil (the closest competitor, but far away really), is the yield per hectare of the palm oil plant. But that's an analysis of its own. Here we focus on the peatland terrain and the soil in which the palm oil plant thrives.
Releasing a lot of carbon into the atmosphere, warming the planet. Thanks to never-ending demand for palm oil from its two biggest consumers, India and China, Indonesia eventually started to depend on palm oil for its economic survival. Indonesia and Malaysia alone contribute to over 85% of the world's palm oil production. Science Daily, the blog, says that 1 hectare of converted land for palm oil leads to 174 tons of emitted CO2. That is a number not to be taken seriously. Enough of the story behind the near-extinction of the orangutan.