As the tide rises, Indonesia struggles to save the living—and the dead

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The north coast of Java is sinking, and the sea is rising. In Jakarta, a city of more than 10 million, as much as 40 percent of the land is below sea level

. But Demak Regency, the county that includes Timbulsloko, is one of the hardest hit parts of the coast. While global warming is causing sea levels worldwide to rise around an eighth of an inch a year, the land here is sinking as much as four inches annually. Demak is losing more than a thousand acres of land, about half a percent of its area, to the Java Sea each year.

After the funeral, the villagers pleaded with the Demak government for help. In the fall, the local public works department sent workers with a backhoe, who scraped enough mud off the shallow seafloor to raise the whole cemetery five feet. That will buy the living and the dead in Timbulsloko a little more time.Demak Regency today has 1.2 million inhabitants, a small fraction of Jakarta’s population.

Yet the flooding also threatened modern cities. In the late 19th century, the Dutch built canals, levees, and sluice gates as flood controls in every major city on the Java deltas, especially in Jakarta and Semarang, the capital of Central Java. For more than a decade, the local government has promoted groundwater extraction as the cheapest way to meet the pressing demand for drinking water and sanitation. With groundwater, there’s no need to build dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, and complex water treatment systems—it doesn’t require treatment. But using it here still exacts a high price.

“Of course we hope that the government can provide a tap water network to prevent the sinking” of the land, Munawir says. “But it will also kill the already established local water business.” “We have yet to feel the impact of this coastal engineering,” says Fadholi, a 36-year-old fisherman hired by an NGO to maintain the sediment trap in Bedono, another village in Sayung district. “We haven’t seen sediment build up here because the current keeps washing it away.” The fences do act as breeding grounds for green mussels, however, which locals collect and sell.

The national government, as part of a strategic effort to save vital assets and industrial zones, is building a combined highway and sea wall from Semarang to the town of Demak, a distance of some 17 miles. It’s expected to be finished in 2024 at a cost of $532 million. The bad news: Only small portions of two villages in Sayung’s coastal area will be protected.

Kusmantri has lived in this hamlet all of his life, and he desperately wants to move out. He has raised the floor of his house three times since 2013, a total of five feet, but seawater keeps coming in during the highest tides. Apart from a wooden bed frame and a small side table to hold his TV, the place is relatively empty. The green paint on the cracked walls has started to peel off, exposing the bare cement.

 

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The impact of climate change is being seen everywhere. The rising median temperature of the cities and the frequently unpredictable weather conditions are all the heralds of the anthropogenic changing climate conditions.

Jesus said: “Woe to them who live on the Coasts!” But – did we listen? (we just filled in places with dirt)

The land moves. What can you do about it? Nothing.

I m thinking about many small islands. 😶

It's too bad condition for indonesian citizens... 😔

Is called uncontrolled water extraction. Yes, Jakarta 11 million population mostly living in poverty, and no clean water to drink. So they extract it directly from water supply below creating a massive void. Jakarta is sinking, capitol of Indonesia to move to Indonesian Borneo

: La costa nord di Java sta affondando e il mare si sta alzando. A Giacarta, una città di più di 10 milioni di abitanti, ben il 40% della terra è sotto il livello del mare.

Berarti berita yg dulu nulis diperkirakan 10 tahun ke depan bbrp wilayah di Jakarta akan tenggelam, bisa terjadi yaa..

Take care of yourself please save the children from this climatic situation.

Woah this is really happening no

Climate of the Earth changes cyclically according to four Planetary conjunctions inter alia 25,625 year long precession SCIENCE Japanese - Solar Activity and Cosmic rays Not Carbon Dioxide, Mini Ice Age 2030s Real Climate Change

MuchRii, we have been here before. Climate change is the future. Too bad we didn't touch on this jana.

One of the effects of global warming... people should start takinh care of mother nature.. 😓

The reason behind unwarranted developments

Wow

Uh oh

Maybe it's just Gods will to lower human breeding and help recover the marine life

I so love that mother nature is teaching us a lesson for our arrogance and greed. Burn baby burn.

Could this be caused by the melting of glaciers due to global warming?

the water are not rising the island is sinking......get it right...

____and the overuse of ground water......ALWAYS blame climate change first (for the money) than the real reason second (for the moral aspect).

natgeo fails to remind readers of Pangaea, and the geologic facts surrounding a changing planet.

Something Must Be Done!

The ocean isn't rising it's the weight of all the people and their possessions that's causing the land to sink.

You ever hear of New Orleans 🤷‍♂️

🔥🤯 Did it really happen or just manipulation of the scenes🔥🔥💔 .

this is sad onday the water label sinking all nations

and still we go on as nothing has happened

Wow how can we help him?……Dad Dad wake up look look

Need a worldwide strict initiative about the population control. 2 children policy. ASAP Idk how gov do that but you know.. Goverments need to think about that. They have some smart ppl and it's their job, RIGHT?!? Give some incentive and some barrier stuff

What is he holding?

Si yas

Java centris in Indonesia should be change..there more space and opportunity outside Java island

Lol some people will move to borneo welcome to the wkwkland wkwk

Have they started to clear land in Borneo?

Take them to Europe

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