Desktop Study on - Regional Climate Change Adaptation ...

Assessment of Capacity Gaps and Needs of South East Asia Countries
in Addressing Impacts, Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Variability and Climate Change
The El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) constitutes
one of the main climatic influences on Indonesia,
being responsible for many extreme weather
events, due changes in ocean currents in the Pacific
Ocean and in atmospheric pressure in the southern
hemisphere (UNDP Indonesia, 2007). In the case of El
Niño, the currents are unusually warm, whereas they
are unusually cold in the case of La Niña. At the same
time, El Niño events tend to bring more droughts and
La Niña is often associated with more floods. Other
climate-related hazards include tropical cyclones
in the eastern south Indian Ocean from January to
April as well as in the eastern Pacific Ocean from
May to December. These tropical cyclones and also
the transitions between Southwest and Northeast
monsoons can cause strong winds and heavy rainfall
(UNDP Indonesia, 2007).
Table_8
Overview on natural disasters in Indonesia
from 1980 to 2009
Top 5 Natural Disasters in Indonesia for the period 1980-2009
Type of natural
disaster
Earthquake (seismic
activity)
Date/year
May 2006 3,177,923
Wildfire Oct 1994 3,000,000
Drought Sept 1997 1,065,000
Earthquake (seismic
activity)
Sep 2009 450,000
Flood Dec 2006 420,000
Total Natural Disasters* in Indonesia for the period 1980-2009
Type of
natural
disaster
Total no of
events
No of
people
affected
In particular, changes in temperature, rainfall and
seasonality of precipitation have been observed
in different areas of Indonesia. Annual mean
temperature increased during the year between
1901 and 1998 by about 0.3°C (Hulme and Sheard,
1999 cited in Case et al., 2007). Overall annual
precipitation decreased during the same period by
2 to 3% across Indonesia. However, precipitation
patterns vary depending on the region. Annual
rainfall has declined in the southern regions
including Java, Lampung, South Sumatra, South
Sulawesi, and Nusa Tenggara, whereas precipitation
has increased in the northern regions of Indonesia
including most of Kalimantan, North Sulawesi (Boer
and Faqih, 2004 cited in Case et al., 2007). Also, the
seasonality of precipitation has changed differently
in each region: the wet season rainfall has increased
in the southern region while the dry season rainfall
has decreased in the northern
No of people
affected
Damage
000 US$
Drought 6 1,083,000 89,000
Earthquake
(seismic activity)
73 6,910,847 9,195,726
Epidemic 29 658,923 N/A
Flood 114 7,221,380 2,374,522
Mass movement
(wet)
38 392,945 120,745
region (ibid). Furthermore, in most
of Sumatra and similarly also in
most of Java, the onset of the wet
season has been observed to be
about 10 - 20 day later in recent
years (1991 - 2003) compared to
three decades ago (1961 - 1990),
whereas the dry season starts
approximately 10 - 60 days earlier
(Naylor et al., 2007, cited in UNDP
Indonesia, 2007).
Recent years have shown the
tendency that the frequency and
intensity of extreme climatic
events is increasing (Ministry of
Public Works, 2007, cited in UNDP
Indonesia, 2007): while droughts
occurred on average every four
years between 1844 and 1960, the
frequency has increased to every
three years in the period 1961 -
2006. Also, the frequency of floods
has increased. However, It seems
to be unclear, whether currently
experienced climatic changes are
a result of increased greenhouse
gas emissions or whether they
are related with the ENSO, or
a consequence of both (UNDP
Indonesia, 2007).
Storm 5 14,638 N/A
Volcano 34 612,393 344,190
* not considered: mass movement (dry)
Source: EM-DAT (2009): The OFDA /CRED; International Disaster Database; www.emdat.net
- Université Catholique de Louvain – Brussels, – Belgium.
Table 8 shows an overview of
natural disaster related statistics
from International Disaster
Database (EM-DAT, 2009). The
disaster statistics indicate that
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