Indonesia Threatened By Rising Sea Levels
Pastor Dale Morgan
Indonesia Threatened By Rising Sea Levels*
Indonesia.
by Staff Writers
Jakarta (AFP) Jun 04, 2007
Indonesia is particularly vulnerable to the impact of climate change as
global warming threatens to raise sea levels and flood coastal farming
areas, threatening food security, a report released Monday said. The
report sponsored by the World Bank and Britain's Department for
International Development said global warming could increase
temperatures, shorten the rainy season and intensify rainfall, leading
to a significant fall in rice yields.
It said thousands of farmers in productive coastal areas would also have
to look for other livelihoods if predictions of a rise in sea level came
true across the vast archipelago nation.
"Indonesia is vulnerable to the impacts of climate change including
prolonged droughts and floods raising serious food security and health
threats while endangering the habitats and livelihoods of coastal
communities," said the report issued ahead of World Environment Day on
Tuesday.
Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar warned in January Indonesia could
lose 2,000 small islands by 2030 due to a rise in sea levels as a result
of climate change.
The report also stressed that deforestation, degradation of peat land
and forest fires had placed Indonesia among the world's top emitters of
greenhouse gases.
Deforestation and land conversion, mostly by fires, accounted for 75
percent of carbon dioxide emissions in the Indonesian forestry sector,
it said.
Rising temperatures due to global warming would further dry up the
rainforest and peat swamps, increasing the risk of even more intense
fires, the report said.
"Activities in forestry are the largest contributor to emissions of
greenhouse gases in Indonesia," report author Agus Sari said in a press
release.
"It is time we put together all of our resources to prevent forest fires
and irresponsible deforestation. We need to be united in this effort
because the potential dangers of climate change are too great to ignore."
Every year, Indonesian farmers burn forests and shrubland to clear land
for agriculture, causing a haze that spreads across Southeast Asia
during the dry season, affecting tourism and health in the region.
The government has outlawed land-clearing by fire, but weak enforcement
means the ban is largely ignored.
Indonesia will host the UN climate change convention on the resort
island of Bali later this year.
Jakarta signed the Kyoto Protocol on fighting climate change in 1998 and
ratified it in 2004.
Source: Agence France-Presse