Adianto P. Simamora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
A group of scientists predicted Wednesday that Jakarta would suffer more floods in the coming years due to human-induced climate change, causing rising sea levels coupled with more rainfall in the capital.
Focusing on Jakarta, the study on the impact of climate change was conducted by experts from the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), the National Institute of Aeronautics and Space (LAPAN), the Meteorological and Geophysics Agency (BMG) and the State Ministry for the Environment.
Team member Armi Susandi from the ITB said rising sea levels severely threatened coastal and low-lying regions.
""We predict at least 72 hectares of Jakarta's land will have fallen into the sea by 2030. It will then soar to 160 hectares in 2050 if the Jakarta administration does not build barriers along the coast,"" Armi said Wednesday.
The study showed that some 38 square kilometers of Jakarta's total land area of 60,000 hectares would be inundated by 2010, causing economic losses of US$1 billion.
""The rising sea level will cause economic losses of more than 4 percent of the city's budget in 2050,"" he said.
Climate change will also affect the rainfall pattern in the city.
Armi said the report would be submitted to the Jakarta administration in the hope that it will include the impact of climate change in formulating strategies to prevent the annual floods in the capital.
Since most of Jakarta's land is covered with building, flooding has become inevitable in the city during the rainy season.
Some 40 percent of the city's land area is below sea level.
The country has not paid as much attention to climate change, which is thought to be caused by global warming, as it should.
Global warming is a phenomenon in which an increase in the temperatures of the earth's atmosphere and oceans can lead to an increase in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events including floods, droughts, heat waves, hurricanes and tornadoes.
Climatologists have said global warming is caused by increased levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide, blaming human activity like the burning of gasoline-based fuels and coal.
While officials and scientists here are still cautious about confirming that global warming had caused extreme weather conditions in the country, the State Ministry for the Environment however, says the higher-than-average temperatures in the capital, rising sea levels, water shortages and forest fires are definite indicators.
An earlier report issued by the BMG showed Jakarta experienced a record high of 37 degrees Celsius last week, when the rainy season was expected to get fully underway.
Agency records show the rainy season has started in October every year since 1884, except in 1997 when the El-Nino weather phenomenon hit the country. The study predicted the temperature would also increase year by year by .03 degrees Celsius.
