Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has again warned of a series of lurking threats. As an effect of the positive El Nino and Indian Ocean Dipole (IOD) climate phenomena that hit countries in the world, including Indonesia. Head of BMKG Dwikorita Karnawati also reminded of the continued impact of El Nino and positive IOD which triggers drought in Indonesia, one of which is the threat of pest attacks on agricultural crops.
BMKG noted that there are 2 regions in Indonesia that have not received rain for almost 3 consecutive months. BMKG asked the government to immediately take action and efforts to overcome the domino effect of El Nino and Positive IOD.
For your information, these two phenomena cause temperature spike anomalies and drastically decrease rainfall. What causes this dry season to be hotter and more extreme dry than the usual dry season.
“Until October II, 2023, moderate El Nino (+1,719) and positive IOD (+2,014) will still persist,” said Dwikorita in a statement on the official BMKG website, Thursday (2/11/2023).
“BMKG and several World Climate Centers predict that El-Nino will continue to remain at a moderate level until the period December 2023 to January-February 2024. Meanwhile, Positive IOD will continue to persist until the end of 2023,” he added.
A series of negative effects
The domino effect of these two phenomena, he said, affects a number of sectors, including agriculture, water resources, forestry, trade, energy and health.
Therefore, he asked the government at all levels to immediately take steps to mitigate and anticipate the negative impacts that occur.
“In the agricultural sector, food crop production is threatened with a decline due to disruption of the planting cycle, crop failure, lack of resistance to plant species or the spread of pests that are active in dry conditions,” he explained.
“In the water resources sector, this situation results in a reduction in water resources. In the trade sector it triggers a spike in food prices, in the forestry sector it results in forest and land fires (karhutla),” added Dwikorita.
Meanwhile, he continued, energy production sourced from hydropower will be depressed.
And, in the resilience sector, health risks related to sanitation and the availability of clean water for consumption and hygiene increase.
“For areas experiencing forest and land fires, this condition can also result in air pollution and trigger Acute Respiratory Infections (ARI),” he said.
Days Without Rain
Dwikorita said that most areas in Indonesia in the July-October 2023 period experienced very low rainfall. Namely most of Sumatra, Java, Bali, West Nusa Tenggara (NTB), East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), most of Kalimantan, most of Sulawesi, parts of Maluku, parts of North Maluku, and parts of Papua.
According to BMKG, until mid-October 2023, the following areas will experience 21-60 consecutive days without rain:
– parts of the southern part of Sumatra Island
– Java
– Bali
– Nusa Tenggara
– Southern Kalimantan
– North Sulawesi
– Southern Sulawesi
– Maluku and southern Papua.
Meanwhile, the following areas experienced long days without rain, more than 60 days, namely:
– Lampung
– West Java
– Banten
– DKI Jakarta
– Central Java
– In Yogyakarta
– East Java
– Bali
– NTT
– NTB
– Central Kalimantan
– South Sulawesi
– Southeast Sulawesi
– Maluku
– Papua.
“And, 2 regions in NTT experienced the longest days without rain, recorded for 176 days, namely East Sumba & Rote Ndao in East Nusa Tenggara,” said Dwikorita.
“This situation must be of concern to us all considering that the distribution of hot spots in Indonesia shows an increase, especially in areas prone to forest and land fires,” he added.
“Kalimantan Island has the most hot spots with a high level of confidence, followed by southern Sumatra, the Nusa Tenggara islands and South Papua,” said Dwikorita.
Dwikorita then explained 7 efforts that could be strategies to overcome these impacts.
Firstensuring sufficient water supply for agriculture and meeting community needs.
Kedua, strengthen the dissemination of guidance information to farmers to adapt to changing seasonal patterns and choose crops that are more drought resistant.
Third, organize outreach and training programs to help communities adopt agricultural practices that are more resilient to drought conditions.
Fourth, strengthening forest and land management to prevent fires that can be triggered by dry weather.
Fifth, ecosystem rehabilitation and restoration of land degraded due to drought or fire.
Sixth, develop a logistics preparedness plan to ensure an adequate supply of clean water and food, especially in vulnerable areas.
Seventh, campaigns for water conservation practices and disaster risk reduction efforts.
[Gambas:Video CNBC]
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