Kathmandu, April 11 -- Besides multiple street demonstrations that gridlocked Kathmandu's traffic for the past weeks, public discourse in Nepal has also been dominated by dangerously high air pollution levels.

Caused mostly by hundreds of forest fires raging across the country, the smoke contains suspended soot particles that harms human health. Thursday's rain have cleared the air somewhat, and many people will soon forget how bad the air quality was. But the time to address the roots of next summer's fire season is now.

Wildfires EXTINGUISHED: Forest fires raging all over Nepal in the week after 3 March (above) reduced air quality, creating a public health hazard in Kathmandu and across the country. Each red dot is a fire detected by...