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Major cities get roasting fro urban heat waves
The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) has reported that the three major cities of Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya are now classified as "urban heat islands" (UHI), or cities with significantly higher temperatures than nearby rural areas
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The National Aeronautics and Space Agency (Lapan) has reported that the three major cities of Bandung, Semarang and Surabaya are now classified as "urban heat islands" (UHI), or cities with significantly higher temperatures than nearby rural areas.
Head of Lapan's Climate and Atmosphere Science Implementation Center, Thomas Djamaluddin, said this concerning phenomenon was largely due to the massive development of concrete buildings and asphalt roads and increasing vehicle gas emissions.
"This evidence shows there has been serious destruction to the environment because of the uncontrolled conversion of land into usages that have furthered the increase in heat in the air and on the surface of the earth," Thomas said Wednesday.
Speaking at a seminar on ozone and air pollution at Lapan, Thomas said he believed the phenomenon occurred in almost all big cities that have undergone massive transformations of open, green spaces into offices and residential and industrial complexes.
"We have created a model based on satellite observations showing that there is indeed a solid correlation between the expansion of UHI areas and the growth of developing regions."
Thomas said the model was solid because the data were obtained directly from satellite observations. He said urbanization was a factor in this expansion.
"The improvement of the microclimate is something we have to do in order to reduce the negative impact of heated regions," said Thomas, adding that planting trees and reducing greenhouse gases was one way to obtain this result.
Among the inevitable effects of the expansion of UHI areas are the decrease in people's comfort levels and the emergence of health related concerns and diseases.
"Green fields would absorb the heat and reduce the heat radiation ratio," he said.
The ratio, he said, had been worsened by asphalt roads and concrete buildings which trap heat in a particular region and prevent the earth from absorbing it.
Lapan researcher Laras Tursilowati, who studied the impact of UHIs on climate change in the three cities from 1994 to 2001, confirmed that a vast temperature increase overtime does indicate symptoms of overall climate change in the region.
The research also reveals that the expansion of UHI areas in Bandung has reached 12,606 hectares or 4.47 percent of the total area. A major trigger for this expansion is the annual 0.36 percent growth rate in the West Java provincial capital.
Similarly in Semarang, the provincial capital of Central Java, the 0.83 percent growth increased the UHI area to 12,174 hectares or 8.4 percent of the total territory.
In Surabaya, an additional 1,512 hectares of the region has been classified as a UHI due to the 1.69 percent increase in regional development.
The report also shows forest areas are decreasing at a rate of 1.4 percent annually in Bandung, 0.26 percent in Semarang and 1.15 percent in Surabaya.
