The recent occurrence of cold weather conditions is a normal condition before the peak of the dry season. This phenomenon is due to the position of the apparent motion of the sun in the northern hemisphere. Meanwhile, our position is in the southern hemisphere. As a result, we receive less solar radiation energy and cause the weather becomes colder.
"Besides, if we see from the energy balance on the earth, besides originating from solar radiation, there is also a long wave of radiation emitted by the earth," said climate expert from the UGM Faculty of Geography on Wednesday (29/7), namely Dr. Andung Bayu Sekaranom.
Andung revealed if current conditions tend to be cloudy, some of the radiation will be reflected in the surface of the earth. This phenomenon causes the temperature to be warmer. Meanwhile, if the weather is sunny, the radiation will evaporate into space so that the temperature becomes cooler.
According to Andung, the dry conditions this year tend to be more humid than the average conditions. After last year's prolonged drought due to weak El Nino, this year the rainfall tends to be higher.
"BMKG predicts the peak of the dry season in August so that September has begun to rain," explained the Secretary of the PSBA UGM.
According to him, the increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere due to human activities such as transportation, industry, etc. are the main factors that cause the current changing climate. There has also been an increase in temperature. It increases up to 0.3 degrees Celsius per decade. Furthermore, climate experts predicted that the increase would keep continuing to rise to 1-2 degrees in 2100. In addition to temperature, the frequency of extreme rainfall is also increasing, and seasonal changes are becoming increasingly uncertain.
"We can feel the impact, especially the flooding phenomenon, which is increasing in the rainy season. It is not uncommon that heavy rains also cause more frequent floods and landslides," Andung said.
Meanwhile, Andung also assessed that in the past few decades, the dry season has become increasingly dry, the incidence of forest fires has also increased from year to year. As for the impact of agriculture, farmers increasingly have difficulty determining the beginning and end of the planting period. Often the rice planting period is not ended, but the conditions are dry, it results in crop failure.
Regarding the current better dry season predictions than last year, Andung examined that there would not be severe disasters resulted either. However, in some locations that are prone to drought still need to be vigilant and save water as much as possible. People can conduct out simple conservation, for example, by planting trees and making water absorption so that during the dry season conditions will not dry up.
Besides, the potential for forest and land fires still exists even though it decreases, so the public is advised not to burn garbage or throw cigarette butts in dry areas.
"Primarily for the mountainous area, the weather will be colder at night and morning than usual, high and humid areas such as Dieng will potentially to be dew," he concluded.
Author: Satria
Photo: Detik.com
Translator: Natasa A