REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Senior researcher from the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Agus Heri Purnomo, says Jakarta is particularly vulnerable to climate change. This is because geographically, this particular area of the capital is located on the coast and becomes the mouth of large rivers.

Agus said coastal communities were the group most at risk, where the climate crisis had prompted an increase in sea surface water.

“Coastal communities need to be aware of the impact. Unfortunately, the adaptations that have already been made are not all successful. So there needs to be intervention from the government,” Agus said in his statement on Thursday (30/5/2024).

He stressed the importance of more serious mitigation and adaptation efforts from relevant governments. According to him, mitigation efforts such as repair of flood drains and reforestation are not enough to anticipate various threats from climate change. “There are still problems to be faced and this is what needs to be fixed,” Agus said.

Agus said the government needed to intervene in a number of projects such as river excavation or river normalization, road improvement, and relevant socialization to make people better prepared for climate change.

“People also need warning systems, such as raising levees. Another example of action is that the government can ease fuel prices, as well as hold training on making bricks from green shells,” Agus said.

He added that the oscillations could have occurred in a 100- or 200-year period. Impacts, for example intrusion of salt water or the sea, prolonged drought, flooding caused by rain or sea tides. For example, in the area of Rorotan or Marunda, in 2007 it was flooded for days with a height of 70 to 80 centimeters.

“If it's a normal flood, it's 1 to 3 hours to recede. It is different from what happened in Rorotan or Marunda, which was flooded for days, so the people had to be evacuated,” he said.

Researcher at BRIN Climate and Atmospheric Research Center, Widodo Setiyo Pranowo, added that the climate vulnerability seen in Jakarta is very high. There are many beach buildings, as well as the presence of beach slopes from low, moderate, to high.

“After looking at the slope of the coast, we can see again other data, namely the tidal ridges or the difference between the high and lowest sea levels. The tidal range that exists in Jakarta bay is moderate. With an increasingly long mount, it will generate a gradient from the elevation by generating a strong current,” he said.

That is, according to him, there is a tidal indicator per year of 0.85 to 0.879 meters, judging by the waves of Jakarta bay, which are up to 40 centimeters high. Therefore, high and moderate changes in the coastline are quite variable.

“Along the coast of Jakarta bay west, the index is low, while in the middle position it includes low to moderate. Further from the center towards the east it is getting higher,” Widodo explained.

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