Global Warming Threatens Indonesia's Islands, Says Expert
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November 2, 2000
Indonesia, with more than 17, 000 islands, could lose about 2,000 islands within 100 years if global warming is not halted, an environmentalist warned.
Global warming also has the potential to put Indonesia's densely populated coastal areas underwater, the Indonesian Observer daily Thursday quoted Agus P. Sari, executive director of Pelangi, a non-governmental organization dealing with environmental affairs, as saying.
Speaking at a seminar titled "Asia-Pacific Regional Consultation on Climate Change" held here Wednesday, Sari said the greenhouse effect is responsible for global warming, which is gradually melting the polar ice caps in the Arctic and Antarctic, causing ocean levels to rise.
He said data collected over the past 600 years indicates that since the year 1400, the hottest years on record have been 1990, 1995 and 1997. This shows that temperature increase over the past decade have been tremendously significant, he added.
According to Sari, the temperature of the world's oceans has increased by almost 1 degree Celsius over the past 100 years, causing ocean levels to rise by 25 centimeters.
On the situation in Indonesia, Sari said, more than 70 percent of the world's population lives in coastal areas and Indonesia is no exception. There will be serious problems for millions of people, due to the dislocation of human settlements and infrastructure, if ocean levels increase by 50 centimeters over the next 50 years.
At present ocean levels, 46 million people living in coastal areas across the world are classified as being highly susceptible to tidal waves and tornadoes.
For Indonesia, if the ocean level rises 20 centimeters, the country will have to spend a fortune on environmental conservation and the construction of dikes and embankments to prevent urban coastal areas from flooding, he said.
The cost would amount to about 4 million U.S. dollars per kilometer, while Indonesia's coastline is more than 80,000 kilometers, he added.
According to some estimates, Indonesia's ocean temperatures will be at least 3 degrees Celsius warmer by 2100, while seawater levels will be one meter higher.