Indonesia Could Lose Thousands Of Islands With Sea Level Rise

WATER WORLD

Indonesia.

by Staff Writers
Jakarta (AFP) Jan 29, 2007
Indonesia could lose 2,000 small islands by 2030 due to a rise in sea levels as a result of climate change, Environment Minister Rachmat Witoelar said on Monday. According to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the sea level could rise between eight and 29 centimetres (three and 12 inches) by 2030, inundating many of Indonesia's lower-lying islands, he said.

"Everybody in this world is experiencing directly the effects of climate change, whether it is floods, droughts or, heaven forbid, sea-level rise, those are phenomena that are impeding development," he told reporters.

The archipelago comprises more than 17,000 islands.

Witoelar said agriculture had been affected by changes in weather patterns, with rice not planted on schedule and Indonesia experiencing a significant increase in temperatures.

Indonesia is also expected to see higher rainfall in coming wet seasons.

Floods in the north of Sumatra island in December killed dozens of people and forced hundreds of thousands to flee.

The Indonesian resort island of Bali will host the 13th UN Climate Change Conference in December, with between 7,000 and 10,000 participants from more than 100 countries expected to attend, the minister said.

Source: Agence France-Presse

WATER WORLD

Portugal Brings Forward Completion Of Giant Dam Project To 2015

Lisbon (AFP) Jan 27, 2007
Portugal will bring forward the completion of the giant Alqueva dam project by 10 years to 2015 to take advantage of its tourism potential, Prime Minister Jose Socrates said Saturday. The government will invest 900 million euros (1.2 billion US dollars), much of it aid from the European Union, by 2013 to meet this goal, he told reporters during a visit to the semiarid Alentejo region where the dam is located.

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