Rainfall becomes less predictable

Rainfall becomes less predictable

BANDUNG, West Java (JP): Seasonal rains are becoming less predictable, with the dry season receiving more rainfall than it used to and the rainy season experiencing less, a weather expert says.

Zadrach L. Dupe, a lecturer on geophysics and meteorology at the Bandung Institute of Technology, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the change may have serious consequences for farmers and their planting seasons.

Fisheries and plantations could also be affected, he said during an international symposium on equatorial atmosphere observation in Indonesia.

Zadrach said he and his colleagues have spent the last few years studying rainfall patterns in the country. Their research has found that while the average rainfall per year has not changed, the dry season now experiences more rain than usual.

Zadrach, who studied atmosphere dynamics in Berlin, said Indonesia still cannot determine a more permanent weather pattern because its weather data records only go back to 1960.

He added that the effects of the changing weather pattern must be studied by experts from various disciplines in order to make recommendations. Farmers must also be informed of the changes and actions they can take.

Zadrach said the major floods that recently swept across Jakarta and many other parts of the country are not an indication of more rain.

Some of the floods, he explained, were man-made.

He questioned the claim by an official in Jakarta that last month's flooding was the worst since 1942.

"If Jakarta was flooded in 1942 to the same extent as last month, it must have been an exceptionally heavy downpour," he said. (17)