Jakarta – The South Tangerang region of Banten has set a record high temperature for October, reaching 39.4 degrees Celsius in the last twenty days of the month, as reported by the nation's Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG).

BMKG shared the information on its Instagram account, @infobmkg, also noting significant temperature increases recorded at weather stations in Bandar Lampung, Banten, Surabaya, Central Sulawesi, South Sumatra and Semarang, among others.

During an event in early October, BMKG head Dwikorita Karnawati predicted that the nation's maximum temperature could eventually reach 40 degrees.

"Based on our calculations up to October, we anticipate the possibility of surface air temperatures reaching 40 degrees Celsius," she said.

According to Dwikorita, the two key factors that contribute to the phenomenon are the influence of the El Nino weather phenomenon and the sun's apparent seasonal path across the sky that is caused by the earth's rotation and orbit of the sun.

She said that the lack of rain cloud formation is attributed to El Nino. "The coverage of rain clouds became extremely minimal, allowing direct sunlight to reach the surface of the earth," she said.

The earth's movement, on the other hand, intensifies irradiation, particularly along the nation's equatorial region. "This, coupled with the relatively low humidity and stagnant air movement, caused the intensification." Dwikorita said.

Despite these extreme conditions, Dwikorita assured that the nation's transition to the rainy season is on track.

The high temperature in South Tangerang and the Greater Jakarta area contrasts with the minimum temperature in Paniai, Central Papua, which dropped to 13.9 degrees during the last twenty days of October 2023.

Dwikorita further referred to the increase in global temperatures, with July and September 2023 ranking as the warmest months on record worldwide. She said that Indonesia alone experienced a 0.4-degree temperature increase.

The average temperature in Indonesia has historically hovered around 26.6 degrees, but has risen to 27 degrees.

The hotter El Nino climate pattern is back after three years and while it threatens to bring with it extreme weather events, several meteorological agencies have suggested that Indonesia is likely to be at relatively moderate risk.

Last week, the United Nations forecast that El Nino will last at least through the first half of 2024.

Pacific ocean surface temperatures soared in recent months, "with stronger warming along the South American coast," according to a report from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) accessed by Reuters.

In early October, Australia's southeast sweltered in a heat wave that raised the risk of bushfires and led authorities to issue fire bans for large swathes of New South Wales state.

The nation's weather forecaster said temperatures would be up to 12 degrees above average in some areas, with Sydney, the capital of New South Wales, Australia's most populous state, set to hit 36 degrees.

In late September, New Zealand's weather institute said the El Nino weather pattern had arrived and was expected to lead to high winds, extreme temperature changes and variable rainfall over the coming three months.

Warmer temperatures are likely in the east of both of the country's main islands, New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said.

Source: https://asianews.network/south-tangerang-breaks-october-record-at-nearly-40-degrees