In Indonesia, the tallest mountaintop is located at the Papua province that is the Carstensz (Jayawijaya) Mountain with a height of 4.884 mdpl. It is among the seven tallest mountaintops in the world. At this mountain, the eternal snow and ice can be found. It must be noted that Indonesia is a tropical country, so we don’t have the winter season, which is why having snow and ice in Indonesia is an amazing natural phenomenon.

 

The reason why it’s called the eternal ice is because at the top the view that can be seen is a large iceberg. There are even a few ice cave that are pretty large and is possible to enter, as well as some caves that are rather small making it hard to explore in. (1). BMKG (Indonesian Agency for Meteorological, Climatological and Geophysics) with a couple of experts, have measured the thickness of the eternal snow and ice in 2010, where it was 31,49 meter. Recently, in 2018 another measurement was taken and the thickness was only 26,23 meter. Every year since 2010 the ice layer thickness melted up to 1,05 meter. (2). The total ice layer coverage around Jayawijaya Mountain in 2010 was around 1 km square and in 2016 around 500 m square, more or less have decreased to half of what it used to be. There hasn’t been a more detailed measurement in 2018, but it is certainly less than 500 m square. (3).

 

The difference in width coverage and thickness is shocking because the snow and ice are known as eternal. The eternal ice is melting, making it not so eternal after all. The cause of the ice melting is global warming. Where global warming itself is due to climate change. Not only has climate change and global warming affected the Antarctic, but it has also effect this so-called eternal snow and ice in Papua.

 

A calculation has been made. It is predicted that the ice layer on Jayawijaya Mountain will disappear in a time period of 2025-2030 based on the ice melting trend and climate change scenario.

 

 

Bibliography:

(1) Yustiana, K. 2017. Salju dan Es Abadi, Keajaiban Tuhan untuk Bumi Papua. https://travel.detik.com/domestic-destination/d-3430496/salju-dan-es-abadi-keajaiban-tuhan-untuk-bumi-papua

(2) Sathya, A. 2018. 2020, Salju di Puncak Jayawijaya, Papua Nggak Lagi Abadi. https://www.pegipegi.com/travel/2020-salju-di-puncak-jayawijaya-papua-nggak-lagi-abadi/

(3) Farhan, A. 2018. Mengenal Es Abadi Indonesia yang Tak Lama Lagi Hilang. https://travel.detik.com/domestic-destination/d-4301306/mengenal-es-abadi-indonesia-yang-tak-lama-lagi-hilang