The Jakarta Post 21 Oct 09;
Indonesia will have 20 percent more rainfall than the current level due to global climate change, the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency says.
Erwin Eka Syahputra Makmur from the agency said Wednesday a climate change projection had shown that the regions around coastal areas would have a greater than 20 percent increase in rainfall during the wet seasons between 2075 and 2099.
“Especially over the northern part of the Sumatra coast, the Kalimantan coast, the west coast of Sulawesi and the south coast of Papua,” he said during a seminar on capacity development for adaptation to climate change in Asia held in Jakarta. He said areas around West Sulawesi would experience 50 percent more rainfall.
“The increase in rainfall will have an impact on coastal erosion and areas will be prone to flooding,” he added.
He predicted no significant increase in rainfall in the period 2015 to 2034. During dry seasons, he said, there would be a decrease in rainfall of up to 20 percent in almost all parts of Java and some parts of Sulawesi.
“This means there will be a lack of water for agricultural needs. We must be aware of this since Java is the national rice bowl of Indonesia,” he said. (adh)
