Link to article: https://www.cnn.com/2021/04/06/asia/cyclone-havoc-indonesia-intl-hnk/index.html
On April 5th, a tropical cyclone in southeast Indonesia killed at least 128 people. Rescuers searched for dozens of people missing in the remote East Nusa Tenggara islands and helicopters were deployed to help search. Tropical cyclone Seroja’s strong winds and heavy rains brought deadly flash floods and landslides to the country. In the nearby West Nusa Tenggara province, two have died, while in the neighboring country East Timor, at least 27 have died. Rescuers believe that some of the 72 people reported missing so far may have been washed away by mud into the sea, or buried under large rocks.
Search and rescue agency chief Doni Monardo stated that help was on the way from the military and volunteers. However, there are health concerns about evacuation centers becoming overcrowded amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
This article is important because of the severity of recent natural disasters. The once-rare tropical cyclones are happening more and more often in Indonesia, and climate change is most likely to blame. With increasing global temperatures, the possibility of increased intensity of storms will likely occur. More heat in the atmosphere and warmer ocean temperatures lead to increased wind speeds in tropical storms. Weather agency head Dwikorita Karnawati stated, “Seroja is the first time we’re seeing tremendous impact because it hit the land. It’s not common.”
Unfortunately, the long-term effects of climate change include the increased possibility of storms like Seroja. At least 8,424 people were displaced, nearly 2,000 buildings were impacted, and more than 100 homes were heavily damaged. The death toll will most likely rise as rescuers reach more isolated areas. The consequences of this tropical cyclone have already been extreme, so if this starts happening more often, the economy of countries like Indonesia will be destroyed.
This article relates to what we’ve been learning in class because geopolitics plays a huge role in climate change. The most immediate effect of climate change on the geopolitical sphere is internal conflict. Research shows that changing climate patterns could cause up to a 50% increase in conflict in the sub-Saharan Africa region alone, resulting in more battle deaths and more displacement of people. The most systematic security consequences from a warming climate will come from sea-level rise. This is likely to cause substantial migration from low-level island states, perhaps to coastal areas in Southeast Asia, with destabilizing effects. Sea-level rise is already putting economic pressure on important states in the coastal areas of the Indian Ocean, with large populations and large parts of their agricultural land heavily exposed to rising sea levels.