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Air Pollution in Indonesia's Capital City, Jakarta |
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by Dyah Reza Lestari | 21-03-2018 00:26
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Jakarta, Indonesia's Capital City, is the most populated city in Indonesia. There are approximately 9.6 million people who live and earn a good living in Jakarta. Not only native residents, but there are so many people from another cities who migrated and settled their lives here, so that's the reason why Jakarta looks more densely populated from year to year. The population density in line with the increasing number of vehicles in Jakarta. It can't be denied that the number of vehicles are increasing every year. This is further strengthened by the increasing of traffic congestion in this Capital City. Moreover, most of Jakarta's people are tend to use their private vehicles in daily lives. It makes the air quality are getting worse due primarily to haze from vehicles' exhaust. Based on a real-time air quality index uploaded by Airvisual application at a recent survey, Jakarta ranked third as the most polluted city in the world, after Beijing and Dhaka, among 70 cities measured across the globe. Cited from Greenpeace Indonesia website, based on air quality monitoring conducted by Greenpeace Indonesia from January to June 2017 in 21 locations in Jabodetabek (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi) showed an indication that air quality was considered 'unhealthy' and hazardous for residents, particularly children, pregnant women, and the elderly. In addition, the research showed that air pollution in Jabodetabek areas are higher than the maximum 'safe' level recommended by World Health Organization (WHO) and the national ambient air quality standard. That research also found there is a danger polutant called PM 2.5. That particulate matter can be breathed, led to, and remained in the respiratory system and a long-term exposure to PM 2.5 will cause several respiratory diseases, for instance asthma, influenza, cardiovascular problems, acute respiratory infection, lung cancer, and other respiratory illness. It could be said that the poor air quality in Jakarta is very harmful to Jakarta people's health. According to the Executive Director of KPBB (Komite Penghapusan Bensin Bertimbel - Joint Committee for Leaded Gasoline Phase-Out), there are about 58,3% of Jakarta's people who suffered from respiratory diseases caused by the exposure of air pollution in the mid-2017. Therefore, to protect themselves against emissions of PM 2.5, residents have been advised to wear mask when they are going outside, specifically N95 surgical masks, instead of regular disposable masks. This mask protects us from breathing in small particles in the air such as dust and mold. And nowadays, we can see most people in every corner in Jakarta use mask when they are in the public places. Nonetheless, the society is not just quiet toward this issue. From the mid-2017 until now, a campaign about #JakartaUnderPollution is very much voiced. This is to spread the awareness to the whole people and government in order to stand together to overcome this problem. Until today, the government is still working on revisions to the air quality regulations and with a full of hopes that all people especially Jakarta's people can easily access the information about air quality index in various regions in Indonesia in the future. And indeed, not only government should do something to this issue but also we (as human since many environmental problems are man-made) have to take an action to this issue. The simplest thing we can do ourselves is we have to reduce using private vehicles, otherwise we can commute via biking, walking, or using public transportation. In Jakarta itself, there are so many buses, commuter trains, and other public transportation. Less driving means fewer emissions. When emissions go down, the pace of global warming slows.
Sources : https://greenpeace.org/seasia/id/high/press/releases/Polusi-Udara-Ancam-Kesehatan-Masyarakat/ https://news.metrotvnews.com/metro/9K5j9mRN-58-warga-jakarta-menderita-penyakit-akibat-polusi-udara Image : http://www.media.greenpeace.org/
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3 Comments
Hi, Joon Ho & Gyeongrin Mentor! Your words are always inspire me to take such an initiative to the environment, eventhough its only by spreading these environmental issues my country has been facing of. Thank you for giving a lot of positive comments!
Posted 22-03-2018 14:47
Hello Dyah!
South Korea is also having a big problem with PM. If air pollution isn't solved, people will be continuously exposed to these matters, which could lead to diseases. However, air as we know is a gas state resource which floats around making it a responsibility for everyone worldwide. So, this eventually is a international issue and I hope that more opportunities could be made by diverse nations so that more people could be part in this problem.
Well written report~
Posted 22-03-2018 11:40
Hello Dyah, I did not recognize of air pollution in Jakarta before!
I simply assumed Indonesia must have had clean air as it has rain forest in large area.
Thanks for sharing #JakartaUnderPollution campaign and related issues!
Posted 21-03-2018 23:27