Commentary: How melting glaciers affect Indonesia – it’s not just rising sea levels

JAKARTA: Scientists, politicians and the people of Iceland recently placed a plaque mourning the loss of Okjokull glacier.

Okjokull is no longer a living glacier because there has been insufficient ice build-up over the years to expand its glacial mass.

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The plaque acknowledges what is happening and what needs to be done in the next 200 years, because all of Icelands main glaciers are expected to suffer the same fate.

READ: Commentary: A new hot world and the death of Iceland's 700-year-old glacier

INDONESIAS GLACIERS

Indonesia has glaciers on the Jayawijaya Mountains in Papua.

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The ice-covered peaks have lost 84.9 per cent of their glacial surface since 1988. A study has predicted the remaining glacial area will disappear within ten years.

More alarming for Indonesia, climate change threatens not only its glaciers but also its vast seas, which make up around 70 per cent of the countrys area and are much deeper than the height of Jayawijaya Mountains.

READ: Commentary: As temperatures rise, Indonesia's water-sharing can prevent transboundary haze

A panel of climate scientists under the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) recently released the Special Report on the Ocean and Cryosphere in a Changing Climate (SROCC). The report explains the latest understanding of our changing oceans and cryosphere (the cryosphere refers to the components of the Earth that are frozen).

How are the SROCCs findings relevant to Indonesia?

CHANGING OCEANS

Scientific findings have revealed the melting of the cryosphere that leads to global sea-level rise is just one of climate changes many domino effects.

The report underlines that climate change causes the oceans to become warmer and more acidic and to lose oxygen persistently. Sea level rise that may submerge small islands happens not only continuously but is also accelerating.

Extreme climate phenomena such as marine heatwaves are becoming more frequent, intense and long-lasting, particularly in the tropics.

The same is true of extreme El Nino–Southern Oscillation events, which cause droughts and floods in Indonesia.

THE STRAIN ON MARINE ECOSYSTEMS

SROCC contains several important warnings about climate changes impact on Indonesia as a tropical, archipelagic country.

First, marine biodiversity is at risk. Climate change causes shifts in seasonal rhythms and the geographical ranges of marine species.

READ: Commentary: Climate change in Singapore and what the future brings

Since the 1950s, marine species living in the upper 200m of the sea have been shifting poleward at about 52 km per decade. A similar pattern is happening to seafloor ecosystems.

Considering the high biodiversity of marine species in Indonesia, further research is needed on changes in seasonal rhythms and geographical distributions of marine species in Indonesia.

Second, the report highlights coral reefs as the most sensitive key marine ecosystem compared to seagrass and mangrove ecosystems that are also prevalent in Indonesia.

As host to the largest seagrass ecosystems in Southeast Asia and 23 per cent of total mangrove forests in the world, this finding is important for Indonesia. Reduced seagrass and mangrove ecosystems may lower the capacity of coastal ecosystems to absorb carbon emissions.

Third, ocean warming reduces Indonesias maximum sea catch potential by up to 30 per cent if greenhouse gas emissions keep rising throughout the 21st century. This adds to the burden on a fisheries sector already plagued by overfishing.

Combined effects of warmer and more acidic waters also have negative consequences for fish stocks and calcareous marine organisms (such as pearl oysters and lobsters).

DONT BLAME EVERYTHING ON CLIMATE CHANGE

To formulate effective adaptation strategies, we need to understand the interactions of environmental degradation that occurs not only because of climate change.

A classic example is the problem of the rising sea level in Jakarta – it is primarily driven by land subsidence due to groundwater extraction.

READ: Commentary: Jokowis curious plan for Indonesias new capital

READ: Commentary: The ocean is changing – its getting more acidic

The UN report also makes a distinction between ocean and coastal acidification.

Ocean acidification refers to the increase of hydrogen ions in ocean waters due to reaction between carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and seawaters. However, Indonesian seas also experience coastal acidification due to local activities such as waste and pollution that further acidify seawater.