Jakarta – Global warming is altering ocean tides, meaning more homes will be inundated with floodwater in the years to come, an official from the City Environmental Management Board (BPLHD) said.

The head of the board's environmental damage control unit, Daniel Abbas, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday that global warming had caused the sea level to rise, which in turn caused higher tides and floods.

"Global warming has melted ice in the two poles, so the sea level is rising and you can see floods more often now in coastal areas here," Daniel said.

He said the sea level would continue to rise slowly and most people would not notice until their homes were inundated with water.

"By 2050, some parts of Jakarta will disappear off the map. This was stated by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in one of its studies," Daniel said.

Muara Baru in North Jakarta seems likely to be among the first areas of the capital to be affected by global warming.

Roni, 32, a gado gado vendor at the Muara Baru fish market, said the area had been hit by floods several times this year. The market is located just a few hundreds meters from the beach. Roni said most of the recent floods in the area were due to high tides.

"We are now quite used to floods caused by high tides here, but previously there were not as many. They only came at the beginning and in the middle of the Javanese calendar month, or once or twice a month.

"The floods used to be only about 30 centimeters high and receded after several hours, but now they can be as deep as one meter and last for a couple of days, as happened recently," Roni said.

He said most trading activities continued as usual if the area was flooded to a level below knee height. Trucks, cars, minibuses and motorcycles usually continue to enter the market when it is flooded.

Nur, 30, a motorcycle taxi driver who works in the area, said floodwater could damage his engine and he often had to wait for it to recede before leaving the market.

An official from the city administration's crisis center confirmed that floods caused by high tides had inundated Muara Baru more often than usual this year.

The official, who asked not to be named, said the administration had to evacuate a number of residents in June when floodwaters one meter deep inundated the area.