Scorching heat to continue until December, BMG says
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Constan, in his 30s, a resident of Kedoya in West Jakarta, said the heat wave that has baked the city over the last several weeks made it impossible to keep his clothes dry.
"Not just during the day, but also in the evening I just sweat so much. I have to change clothes six or seven times a day," Constan said on Tuesday.
Endang, in her 40s, a resident of Karet in Central Jakarta, said the heat had driven her and her family out of their home and into the mall.
"I cannot afford to run the air conditioner all day, so I prefer to take my children to the mall and spend the day window- shopping," she said.
Constan and Endang are among the millions of Jakarta residents suffering from the unusually high temperatures in the city.
Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any relief on the horizon. The Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG) said on Tuesday residents could not expect any respite until early December, when the rains were expected to arrive.
Temperatures in Jakarta have been hovering around 34 degrees Celsius degree over the past few weeks, compared to an average temperature of 32 degrees Celsius. Officials said earlier temperatures could rise as high as 35 degrees Celsius.
BMG senior official Achmad Zakir said on Tuesday that while most parts of the city had experienced scattered rains over the last several weeks, the rainy season would only begin in early December.
"We will continue to have scattered rains, strong winds and lightning this month, but the rainy season will only start early next month," Zakir said.
He said that because of the strong winds that were dispersing the cloud cover, especially in the morning, huge amounts of heat were being trapped by the ground.
"Then in the afternoon the excessive heat in the ground vaporizes huge amounts of liquids, creating towering clouds that lock up the heat by preventing it from releasing into the open air," he explained.
He said this was similar to the heat wave that occurred last November, when temperatures in the city reached more than 35 degrees Celsius.
Zakir said that in addition to climate-related factors, the growing population and increasing industrial and vehicle emissions were also responsible for higher temperatures in the city.
Environmentalists have warned that temperatures in the city will continue to climb as more trees are lost and the remaining green spaces are converted into buildings.