Challenges for Indonesia as a tropical country in facing extreme climate change

Climate change is a global disaster whose magnitude is estimated to be the same as the Covid-19 pandemic. Later, no country will be able to escape or be free from the threat of climate change. Climate change is a real global threat and has been studied by various scientists who describe that the world is experiencing global warming. Development that takes place in all countries will lead to greater prosperity, greater mobility, greater use of energy, and pressure on natural resources to become very, very real.

Indonesia as one of the big countries in terms of geography, population, economic size, will be a country that is taken into account and will even be seen in its participation in dealing with the risks of climate change, including carbon emissions. Recent survey studies show that nowadays young people in Indonesia are paying serious attention to the issue of the climate crisis. Reported from Kompas.com, according to the majority of these young respondents, climate change is a serious problem whose impact on Indonesia to communities and individuals they are currently experiencing. Respondents feel that the weather becomes hotter during the dry season, and that rains and floods occur more frequently. The survey results also reveal a number of factors that cause climate change in Indonesia, namely deforestation as the biggest factor. The source of greenhouse gas emissions is also a factor that must be considered.

So, what are the problems and impacts of climate change in Indonesia? The first is an extreme heat wave. As felt by respondents from a survey conducted by Kompas.com, they all felt a significant change in excessive heat. Indonesia itself as a tropical country which only has 2 seasons, dry and rainy. In the dry season which is already hot enough, Indonesia has to face an increasingly intense heat wave. Based on research notes in the Journal of Geophysical Research, Indonesia will experience more than three times the extreme heat wave conditions between 2020 and 2052.

Then between 2068 and 2100, there will be an extreme heat wave that will occur every 2 years. This heat wave will be of the same or greater intensity than in 2010, when an extreme heat wave occurred in Russia and killed 55,000 people.
Not only that, the incident also ended up destroying about 9 million hectares of crops, killing all the birds in Moscow and causing forest fires.

Second, the increasing incidence of extreme forest fires. Indonesia, which is the lungs of the world, has a high risk of experiencing forest fires. It is predicted that in the high emission scenario, East Kalimantan and eastern Sumatra will experience a warming of almost 4 degrees Celsius and rainfall reduced by 12 percent in 2070 to 2100. Along with the potential risk of extreme forest fires, the risk of drought will also increase as a result of this climate change. The regions of South Kalimantan and northern Sumatra in 2071 to 2100 will become drier by about 20-30 percent. Meanwhile, in Java and the southern part of Sumatra, it became 30-40 percent drier that year.

In addition to drought and forest fires, another hydrometeorological disaster that is also increasing due to climate change is the risk of flooding. Between 1990 and 2013, river floods cost Indonesia around US$5.5 billion. Then there is sea level rise and coastal flooding. From 2000 to 2030, an average rise in sea level will increase the risk of coastal flooding or tidal flooding by 19-37 percent. Then, Indonesia, which is known as a tropical country, also has a risk of decreasing rice yields due to climate change. A recent study published in the Journal of Agricultural Meteorology, states that air temperature has the greatest influence on rice harvests.

An increase in temperature caused by changes in rainfall is expected to reduce coffee yields in Indonesia by up to 85 percent. Aceh, which is currently a suitable area for Arabica coffee production, if there is an increase in temperature of 1.7 degrees Celsius, it will lose about 90 percent of its current production land. Then there is also a change in habitat that will cause the extinction of various species, both animals and plants, such as large trees in the forest which are the main absorbers of carbon dioxide. This is because they do not have time to adapt to changes in temperature and natural changes that occur too quickly. The extinction of these various species, will have an even greater impact on ecosystems and food chains. Indonesia, which has a lot of forests spread over various islands, is certainly inhabited by various animal species which are feared to be extinct due to changes in habitat caused by changes in temperature.

As a result of the greenhouse effect, global warming, and damage to the ozone layer that occurs throughout the world, it has a very large impact throughout the world as well. However, Indonesia, which is a tropical country and whose economy is dependent on agriculture, fisheries, forestry, must of course try hard to prevent and minimize the effects of extreme climate change. It is not only the responsibility of one country, but the whole world must fight together and start changing to environmentally friendly, for posterity and future generations who will occupy the earth.