Increased temperatures caused by human-induced global warming have led to higher monthly rainfall in Jakarta, according to the Geophysical and Meteorological Agency (BMG).

"The BMG has recorded an increase in the monthly rainfall rate in some areas, including Jakarta, East Java and East Nusa Tenggara between 1900 and 2000," the agency's secretary, Andi Eka Sakya, said Tuesday. The BMG figures were based on estimates over the 100-year period.

The BMG said Jakarta, Banten and West Java experienced a 12 percent rise in monthly rainfall from 310 to 360 millimeters.

"The rainfall rise is related to the increase of temperature as stated in the IPCC's (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report. This climate anomaly must be anticipated as a cause of (future) flooding," Andi was quoted as saying by Antara.

The IPCC is the world's top authority on climate change.

The panel issued its second report on climate change "impacts, adaptation and vulnerability" last week.

The report said Indonesia will experience rises in temperature of between 0.2 degrees and 1 degree Celsius per year.

The 1,572-page document, written and reviewed by 441 scientists, predicted that by 2050 an extra 130 million people across Asia would be at risk of hunger because of climate change.

The report said Asia would be hit particularly hard as global temperatures increased in coming decades.

The BMG said monthly rainfall in East Nusa Tenggara rose by 18 percent from 430 to 530 mm through the twentieth century, while Bali experienced a rainfall increase of 17 percent to 360 mm.

Leading environmental groups warned the government to take rapid steps to deal with the future negative consequences of climate change.

"As a very vulnerable country, Indonesia must calculate and put the impacts of climate change into national development planning," said Kuki Soejachmoen of Pelangi Indonesia, an environmental group.

She said the government had to start collecting data on climate change as the basis for formulating national strategies to mitigate the dangers arising from hotter weather.

Ari Muhammad, climate change coordinator at WWF Indonesia, urged the government to promote adaptive measures in order to minimize the impact of climate change.

"Adaptation is a crucial issue in climate change talks. Therefore, the government needs to make reducing risks a priority," he said.

The IPCC report called for a range of adaptive measures including limiting new building along threatened coastlines, building corridors to allow threatened species to migrate, and improving water conservation.

The report said sustainable development policies with climate change in mind should be put into common practice. It also said public food distribution networks, disaster preparedness, and health care systems should be improved to reduce the vulnerability of developing countries.

State Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar earlier warned that several areas of Jakarta would be swamped by rising sea levels.

He said Soekarno-Hatta International Airport in Banten, the country's largest recreational park, Taman Impian Jaya Ancol in East Jakarta and the luxury housing complex of Kelapa Gading would be swamped by 2050.

The minister made his prediction based on the IPCC's first report, which predicted a sea level increase of between 18cm and 58cm by 2100.

Indonesia will host an international conference on climate change in December. The conference to be held in Bali will be attended by 10,000 delegates from 180 countries.

©Jakarta Post