Sorong, Ekuatorial – Temperature rising has led to clean water scarcity in Sorong of West Papua, an area considered to have never experienced dry season.
The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BKMG) recorded the temperature in Sorong increasing significantly for the past ten years in the same month.
“Based on the data, there’s an increase temperature between 0.5 to 1.0 percent for average temperature and maximum temperature in September and October,” said Frans Rahawarin, head of Sorong BMKG station, on Friday (10/10).
Normally, the weather ranges from 26 to 27 degree Celsius with maximum 31 – 32 degree Celsius. But, Rahawarin said that with the increasing temperature, it can reach up to 34 degree Celsius.
As a result, the heat had troubled local villagers, for instance Rahayu who had to dig up new wells as her old well had dried up. Meanwhile, Fatma had to buy 5,000 liters of water for Rp 300,000 (US$24) for her business.
The situation is new to Sorong which has been known to be raining all year. The monthly precipitation for Sorong is 50 millimeter causing dry season to be ‘unknown’ for its residents. Niken Proboretno
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