Scientist says Indonesia needs to monitor Antarctic
Scientist says Indonesia needs to monitor Antarctic
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia must research more about changes in
the Antarctic because they affect the archipelago's climate, a
government scientist said yesterday.
Fadli Syamsudin, who explored the Antarctic in August and
September, said Indonesia was a chief passage through which water
from the Antarctic flowed to the Atlantic Ocean.
Any disruption in the water's circulation is bound to affect
Indonesia's climate, Fadli told The Jakarta Post.
Fadli, an employee of the Agency for the Assessment and
Application of Technology, met around 300 senior high school
students earlier yesterday to brief them on his expedition.
Muhammad Evri also attended the briefing. He was the only
other Indonesian in the expedition which sailed the Aurora
Australis research ship with about two dozen scientists from
other countries.
Fadli (30) and Evri (29), both from the agency's Directorate
of Natural Resources Inventory Technology, are the first
Indonesians to set foot on the Antarctic. On Aug. 31, the two men
planted the national red-and-white flag at the Dummont D'urville
site. The temperature was minus 30 centigrade.
"The Antarctic holds 90 percent of the world's ice stock and
75 percent of its plain water stock," Evri told the enthusiastic
young crowd.
"The Antarctic is 14 million square kilometers, twice the size
of the Australian continent. In winter, it increases to 17
million square kilometers because of freezing ocean," Evri said.
Asked about the most memorable part of the expedition, he said
it was the chance to meet and compare notes with scientists from
other countries.
"Do you want to join an expedition some day?" Evri asked,
followed by a long "yes" from the audience.
The expedition left Indonesia on Aug. 22 for Hobart, Tasmania.
From there they sailed to the Antarctic. The scientists returned
on Sept. 23.
The Indonesian scientists' goal was to study the
characteristics of Antarctic water, and its influence on
Indonesian and global climates.
Their findings will be presented at a national convention on
maritime issues in Ujungpandang, South Sulawesi, next month.
The meeting with high school students yesterday was organized
to encourage youths' interest in maritime issues.
Yusuf Djajadihardja, who headed the project, said that
Indonesians were becoming less interested in maritime studies, an
irony given the archipelagic nature of the country.
"It's very hard to recruit maritime researchers," Yusuf said.
President Soeharto has pronounced 1996 the year of maritime
and aeronautical affairs. (05)