Filed under: Flood
The World Bank warned Thursday that an exceptionally high tide could
inundate the Indonesian capital next week, forcing thousands of
people to flee homes and cutting off the highway to the
international airport.
The situation — exacerbated by global warming and the fact that
Jakarta is sinking up to 2 inches a year — could mean flooding will
exceed last November’s roof-high levels in the hardest-hit areas,
said Hongjoo Hahm, the bank’s infrastructure expert.
“This is just the beginning,” he said, as he pointed to homes
reaching a mile inland that will likely be affected Tuesday and
Wednesday by the 18-year semiannual tide cycle. “It’s getting worse
and worse.”
Indonesia, a sprawling archipelago nation, is one of the world’s
largest contributors of carbon dioxide emissions, thanks to the
rapid pace of deforestation. But experts say the country is also at
risk of becoming one of the biggest victims of climate change.
Rising sea waters especially pose a threat to coastal cities like
Jakarta, which has sunk at least 7 feet in the last three decades
because of excessive ground water extraction, said Hahm.
Eventually, the government should consider building a Dutch-styled
dike to protect the Jakarta Bay, he said, “but that will cost
billions of U.S. dollars.”
The 18-year high tide cycles occur when the sun and moon are in
direct alignment and making their closest approach to the Earth.
Other factors, such as global warming or El Nino and La Nina, have
made the sea swells even larger in recent years, Hahm said
Filed under: Mud Volcano
Study finds Indonesia `mud volcano` collapsing
Jakarta (ANTARA News) – An Indonesian “mud volcano” that has oozed sludge for two years is collapsing under its own weight, worsening an environmental disaster that has displaced thousands, a study said Wednesday.
Sudden collapses of up to three metres (9.8 feet) have been recorded at the centre of the volcano in East Java, the study by Durham University and the Bandung Institute of Technology found.
“Such sudden collapses could be the beginning of a caldera — a large basin-shaped volcanic depression,” the institute was quoted by AFP as saying in a statement, adding that the caldera could be as much as 146 metres deep.
“(Scientists) propose the subsidence is due to the weight of mud and collapse of rock strata due to the excavation of mud from beneath the surface,” it said.
The volcano in Sidoarjo district has been spewing around 60 Olympic swimming pools of mud a day since erupting to life in May 2006 from a gas drilling hole, owned by oil and gas company Lapindo Brantas.
Drilling by Lapindo, owned by the family of billionaire welfare minister Aburizal Bakrie, has been blamed for causing the mud flow, but the company claims an earthquake in the city of Yogyakarta was to blame.
Twelve villages have been affected by the spreading mud and at least 36,000 people have been forced to flee their homes.
The mud volcano, known as “Lusi”, has already been an environmental and economic disaster for local people, and study authors say things will get worse as the mud continues to flow and the centre collapses.
“Sidoarjo is a populated region and is collapsing as a result of the birth and growth of Lusi. This could continue to have a significant environmental impact on the surrounding area for years to come,” study co-author Richard Davies said. (*)
No tsunami after 6.7 magnitude quake jolts Maluku
Ambon,(ANTARA News) – The head of the Geophysic Station in Ambon, Benny Sipolo, said that there would be no tsuname to happen after a 6.7 magnitude earhquake jolted Maluku Tenggara Barat district at about 10:05 on Saturday.
“We have monitored the possibility of tsunami at the time when temblor shook the area,” he said.
The epicenter was detected in 7,41 degree southern latitude and 129,66 western longitude or about 194 km Southwest of Saumlaki city.
The location of the quake was about 72 km below the sea level, so that it would not trigger tsunami.
As to the material losses, Benny said there was no such report from the local administration or people.
“Perhaps the people need to exercise more caution on possible aftershocks and hence they are called not to go fishing first,” he said.(*)
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Filed under: Forest Fires
Padang, West Sumatra (ANTARA News) – The haze which has been enveloping West Sumatra for the past two days following the emergence of hot spots in a number of locations became thicker on Thursday but domestic and international flight schedules were not yet affected.
Air transport activities were proceeding normally and had remained unaffected up to Thursday, the chief of Minangkabau International Airport (BIM)`s operations division, Satyah Anggara, said here on Thursday.
The haze did not disturb visibility so that flights could go on as scheduled, he said.
“No flight has been canceled or postponed, flight activity is still normal,” he said.
Meanwhile, Amarizal, a spokesman of the Tabing Padang meteorological and geophysics office, said visibility was still normal despite the haze.
He suspected the haze had come from West Sumatra`s neighboring provinces of Jambi and Bengkulu.
However, there might be also hot spots in West Sumatra`s forests as the province was entering the dry season.
“It`s possible part of the haze is from hot spots in West Sumatra,” he said.
Last Tuesday, the NOAA (US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) Satellite 18 had detected tens of hot spots in West Sumatra which were causing haze.
Data from the forest service and the natural resources conservation agency showed that there were 27 hot spots in the province on May 17, 2008.
The hot spots emerged because of forest fires and fires created to open new farming areas, a local forestry service officer said.
Of the 27 hot spots, 17 were found in Dharmasraya District, nine in Pesisir Selatan District, two in Sijunjung District, two in Pasaman District, and two in Lima Puluh Kota District.
He reminded local farmers not to put forest trees on fire as such acts were violation of Government Regulation No. 4/2002 which bans the burning of trees in forest areas. (*)
LATEST NATURAL DISASTERS IN INDONESIA 