DROWNED OUT
Jakarta is SINKING as scientists warn climate catastrophe could plunge half of city underwater by 2030 – and entire capital may have to be abandoned
INDONESIA'S capital city is collapsing 'in slow motion' and could soon sink underwater forever.
Concerned scientists are warning that unless more is done to save Jakarta then 9.6million residents may need to be permanently evacuated.
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According to , Jakarta is now a chaotic jumble of buildings fighting for space amongst litter and drowning streets.
The report warns that the capital could become the first mega-city to be claimed by climate change if last-ditch efforts to save it aren't enough.
Sea level rise, subsidence and a lack of political action are all being listed as contributing factors to the crisis.
Around 20 kilometres of sea walls have been erected around Jakarta Bay in the past three years because walls built a decade ago are now redundant.
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In some areas, subsidence is so bad that the concrete barricades are the only things stopping them from being swallowed by the sea.
Four metres of coastline subsidence over the past few years and rising sea levels due to climate change have made the city one of the most vulnerable in the world.
The problem is so bad that the government is now looking for a new capital for Indonesia.
However, the government itself is also being blamed for the disaster as some people think it hasn't taken action properly because of greed and other economic interests.
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Jakarta has always flooded because it has so many rivers and is so close to the sea.
This type of flooding was manageable though with special pumping stations and canals compensating for the problem.
A bigger issue for Jakarta was the rising population after the 1970's oil boom, which led to piped drinking water services only reaching 60% of the people in relatively wealthy areas.
The other 40% cannot even drink from the rivers because of illegal waste dumping.
This issue has lend to people using groundwater pumps to reach a fresh source.
Pumping for groundwater makes subsidence worse because it lowers foundations.
Some areas of Jakarta are now so much lower than they should be meaning flood water has nowhere to drain.
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Global heating is also expected to increase freak weather in the area, meaning heavy rain and typhoons could become more frequent.
Critics of the government think it hasn't done enough because until recently, the flooding issues largely affected poorer areas.
More recent disasters have spurred on projects to save the city such as the creation of a water dyke, which should act as a huge breakwater barrier.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted that if carbon emissions continue to remain the same then the sea levels will rise by one-metre by 2100.
Unfortunately for Jakarta, there is no time or room for error as experts are predicting that the continued sea level rise will see the north of the city underwater by 2030.
This area includes the international airport.
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Climate change explained
Here are the basic facts...
- Scientists have lots of evidence to show that the Earth’s climate is rapidly changing due to human activity
- Climate change will result in problems like global warming, greater risk of flooding, droughts and regular heatwaves
- Each of the last three decades have been hotter than the previous one and 17 of the 18 warmest years on record have happened during the 21st century
- The Earth only needs to increase by a few degrees for it to spell disaster
- The oceans are already warming, polar ice and glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and we’re seeing more extreme weather events
- In 2015, almost all of the world's nations signed a deal called the Paris Agreement which set out ways in which they could tackle climate change and try to keep temperatures below 2C
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In other news, Antarctica is being melted from below by warm underground rivers, panicked scientists warn.
Experts think climate change could cause areas of the ocean to turn a "deep green" colour by 2100.
And, an iceberg the size of London recently broke off Antarctica – and it wasn't due to climate change.
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