Dry Season: Muhammadiyah Urges Public Vigilance Against El Niño Threats

The El Niño phenomenon represents one of the threats that must be anticipated early through early warning systems and enhanced preparedness. Jakarta (ANTARA) - The Muhammadiyah Disaster Management Center (MDMC) is urging all Muhammadiyah volunteers and the general public to increase their readiness in facing the potential threats posed by the El Niño phenomenon. “The El Niño phenomenon is one of the threats that must be anticipated early through early warning systems and increased preparedness,” said Wahyu Heniwat, Representative for Mitigation and Preparedness at MDMC, when contacted from Jakarta on Monday. Wahyu stated that the potential threats from the El Niño phenomenon impact various sectors of life, including food security, forest fires, and other environmental crises. Therefore, he said, the public is expected to be able to recognise risks and enhance preparedness in facing potential disasters in the future. According to him, various impacts, such as disruptions to food security and increased risk of forest fires, present challenges that must be addressed collectively. For that reason, collaborative steps between the government and the public are necessary to minimise these threats. “Concrete and collaborative steps are needed to address this threat. The government and the public must increase vigilance and map disaster risks in their respective areas,” he said. Meanwhile, the Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) states that global climate conditions have the potential to develop into a weak to moderate El Niño phenomenon in the second semester of 2026 with a probability of around 50-80 percent, thereby increasing the risk of drought and forest and land fires (karhutla) in Indonesia. The BMKG assesses that, based on expert studies, there is potential for the dry season to arrive earlier and last longer, and overall, climate conditions in 2026 are expected to be drier than normal. “It should be understood that the dry season and El Niño are two different phenomena. The dry season is a climatological cycle, but if it occurs together with El Niño, rainfall will be significantly reduced, and conditions will become drier,” said Teuku Faisal Fathani.