Global warming cause climate change in Indonesia. This is indicated by the increased frequency and very high intensity of rain, the uncertainty of rainy and dry seasons, increase of sea surface that threatens coastal areas, and various disasters due to climatic hazards.
According to Dr. H.A. Sudibyakto, M.S., almost 90% of natural disasters in Asia, including Indonesia, are caused by climate change. This climate change also threatens the achievement of the Millenium Development Goals in 2020 and Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015.
In agricultural sector, climate change impacts are varied between South East Asian countries. Generally, climate change influences seasonal activities and relationship between rain fluctuation and rice productivity. Besides, climate change also impacts the relationship between rainfall and every plant and the increase of sea surface about 10 cm in the past 100 years due to global warming. “The impact is very serious on delta areas and coastal plains. In this case, rice cultivation and salt production will be affected seriously,†he said at Auditorium of Faculty of Geography, UGM, Thursday (4/2) after being inaugurated as Associate Professor.
In his speech entitled “Climate Change in Indonesia, Concept, Adaptation, and Impact Mitigationâ€, Sudibyakto gave several examples of climate change impacts on the increase of sea surface in Indonesia, such as those in Northern coasts of Java. Based on surveys, climate change will cause the increase of sea surface there about 6-10 mm per year. This calculation means that cities on Northern coasts of Java, such as Pekalongan, in the next 100 years will be inundated by sea water as far as 2.1 km from the coastline, and the city of Semarang will experience the same thing as far as 3.2 km from the coastline.
The Dean of Faculty of Geography concluded that global warming really affects climate change in Indonesia. Therefore, the causal factors of climate change, impacts, and mitigation efforts and adaptation need to be understood and implemented in the National Action for Disaster Risk Reduction Plan (RAN PRB) in climate change.
It was concluded that coastal areas will be affected by increased sea surface, such as the loss of land and coastline change. Besides, due to climate change, rain intensity has increased, storm frequency, flood, drought, and landslide and also worse environmental conditions that increase area vulnerability. “Therefore, we need to do risk analysis quantitatively in the future due to the impact of climate change in Indonesia, so that we can prioritise the handling in order to reduce the impacts in many sectors,†he explained.