Increasingly high tides that swamped two hamlets in Demak regency, Central Java, may have been caused by global warming, experts say.
Residents of Tambaksari and Senik hamlets, Demak, had been forced to relocate, and hundreds of hectares of fish and shrimp farms had been abandoned because the water around them had become
too deep.
“Previously, I went on the haj with profits from fish farming, but now the family’s 4-hectare fish farm has become one with the sea,” Bedono resident Nurdin said.
Bedono village chief Mualipin said Senik hamlet had been inhabited by 78 families in 2000, but that high tides had gradually engulfed the village in waist-deep water, and its residents had eventually moved on.
“Now, only five families live on platform homes there,” he said.
The 4,500 residents living in Bedono village are apparently used to the high tides.
The village cemetery had been inundated by seawater but residents had worked together to raise land around the graves so they could still visit them.
Many Bedono residents have low incomes, earning a living as fishermen or factory workers, and have no means to move to other areas.
Munasik, a fisheries and marine science lecturer at Semarang’s Diponegoro University, said global warming, as evidenced by melting glaciers, would increase sea levels as well as sea temperatures, and that high sea surface temperatures would damage coral reefs en masse as warmer sea currents sweep through coral reef areas over time,
“Coral reefs of the Acropora and Pocillopora species are very susceptible to bleaching and will eventually die [in water at higher temperatures]. If a coral species in an area dies, it shows there is an unbalanced ecosystem and every habitat will also be impacted,” Munasik told The Jakarta Post recently.
Munasik said coral reefs damaged by impacts of global warming were common in shallow and tropical seas.
Global warming will also increase the sea’s acidity and slow down coral reef calcification, stunting its growth and finally lead to its destruction, he said.
“Many will be disadvantaged by damage to the marine habitat,” Munasik said.
Rising sea levels will also put Indonesia at a disadvantage, he said. “Many of our small islands will be lost as sea levels gradually rise and the vanishing coastline will reduce the country’s territorial area,” he said.
Increasing sea levels could wipe out coastal resorts, he said.
“The resort areas, which are part of our prime natural tourist objects, will vanish because of the rising sea levels. That’s why global warming is so detrimental and a threat to the tourism industry,” Munasik said.
Rising sea levels also stunts the growth of mangrove wetlands, which act as barriers against high tides.
“The specific distance from the root to the mangrove trunk is important for it to survive and flourish. A change in natural conditions will hamper their growth, and if one species is damaged, other species will be impacted,” he said.
