goodmorningpapua.com – Extreme dry weather marked by a severe frost phenomenon in the mountainous region of Lanny Jaya, Papua, will last throughout August. In eastern Papua, such as Kuyawage, dry conditions may even continue until September.
“In the mountainous area of Lanny Jaya, there is a potential for a wet season in September 2022,” said a climatology researcher at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN), Erma Yulihastin, in a written statement that she shared, Thursday, August 11, 2022.
He explained that the phenomenon of frost, or in other areas known as Upas dew, in Papua is currently more caused by strengthening local factors. Erma compared it with the influence factor of the east monsoon wind anomaly from Australia.
Weather data from Sentani Airport, Papua, sent to the WMO World Meteorological Agency showed the maximum daily temperature in the region was over 34 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature ranges from 22-23 degrees Celsius, and the average dew point temperature is 21-22 degrees Celsius. This condition persisted for five days from 24-28 July 2022.
The maximum temperature, Erma explained, was the highest during July and exceeded normal conditions. A similar condition had occurred in July 2020.
“The tendency for an increase in maximum temperature and a decrease in daily minimum temperature is accompanied by low air humidity, which is less than 77 percent, which proves that the air tends to be dry in the Papua region,” he said.
This condition, according to Erma, is intensified by the absence of clouds over Indonesia due to the impact of the formation of tropical cyclones in the Northern Hemisphere some time ago and will continue during August 2022.
An Agro-climatology researcher, Aris Pramudia, said the condition clearly affected agriculture. He explained, in mountainous areas are usually planted with trees such as tea, tobacco, sweet potatoes, and vegetables. These types of plants are called not resistant to the symptoms of upas mildew.
Because the leaves have the potential to suffer tissue damage due to shrinkage from the impact of freezing, and cannot be recovered,” he said in the same written statement.
For mitigation, Aris suggested, it could be tried by replacing the type of plant with papaya trees that are more resistant to frost and drought, such as those planted in the mountainous area of Dieng, Central Java. “Or, other plant commodities with thick leaves such as cacti, dragon fruit, jackfruit, durian, and so on.”