The increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones and tornadoes is thought to be related to global warming.
By
AHMAD ARIF
·3 minutes read
BPBD KAPUAS
A building that was heavily damaged by a tornado in Mantangai, Kapuas Regency, Central Kalimantan, Wednesday (23/2/2022)..
JAKARTA, KOMPAS – The frequency of tornadoes in Indonesia has increased by 3.5 times in the last decade. This poses a serious challenge for hydrometeorological disaster management considering that tornadoes are difficult to predict on a local scale.
According to data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB) on Thursday (24/2/2022), in Indonesia, as many as 441 tornadoes were reported in 2011. The figure rose to 543 in 2012, then 663 in 2016. In 2021, there were 1,577 reports of tornadoes, which is 3.5 times more compared to the previous 10 years.
Tornadoes have also occurred repeatedly in 2022. Recently, a tornado crossed seven villages in Semanu district, Gunung Kidul regency, Yogyakarta on Tuesday (22/2). Acting head of the BNPB’s disaster data, information and communication center, Abdul Muhari, said the tornado had damaged 510 houses, two educational facilities, two mosques as well as factories and village halls.
A climate researcher from the Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency (BMKG), Siswanto, said tornadoes were one of the hydrometeorological disasters that were still difficult to predict. Compared to tropical cyclones, which can take days to form and have a predictable route, tornadoes tend to be local and brief.
However, the increase in the frequency of tropical cyclones and tornadoes is thought to be related to global warming. “The warming of the Earth’s surface will facilitate the formation of tropical cyclones, tornadoes or even smaller-scale eddies in the form of tornadoes,” said Siswanto.
ABDULLAH FIKRI ASHRI
Residents install roof tiles that were previously damaged by a tornado in Kalimaro Village, Gebang District, Cirebon Regency, West Java, Tuesday (12/28/2021). The disaster that occurred on Monday (12/27/2021) that afternoon damaged at least 143 houses in a number of villages in Gebang. There were no fatalities in the incident.
Yearly trends
A study on tornadoes by Emilya Nurjani and her team from Gadjah Mada University’s (UGM) School of Geography showed that the frequency of these disasters increased from 2008 to 2009. The study, published in the Geomedia journal (2013), examined the trend of hurricanes from 1990 to 2011.
The study claimed that between 1990 and 1997, there were almost zero incidents because not many objects were destroyed by disasters and they did not garner much public attention. Additionally, records from that time were still limited.
Records of the occurrence of hurricanes began to emerge from 1997 to 2007, which showed an increasing trend from year to year. Losses were widespread and increasing in number.
The study also found that Java Island was most prone to hurricanes or cyclones, especially West Java, Central Java and East Java. Based on the period of occurrences, tornadoes were mostly reported between October and March.
During the closing of the virtual coordination meeting for disaster management, Vice President KH Ma’ruf Amin reminded all parties to reimplement the 2020-2044 Disaster Management Master Plan as capital for disaster risk management.
“We need to optimize the implementation of these instruments to realize the resilience of our country in facing disasters,” said Amin.
