PEATLAND MANAGEMENT AND NATIONALLY DETERMINED CONTRIBUTION (NDC)

Peatland is a storage of huge amount of carbon. It is estimated that peat can contain about 6 tonnes per hectare of 1 cm depth. Overall, Indonesian peatlands stores about 46 Giga tons, or about 8-14% of the carbon stored in the world peatlands. It is this carbon content that has become source of problems due to its emission when burnt, and at the same time also become a potential solution if well managed, in the context of climate change mitigation and adaptation. In our First National Determined Contribution submitted to the UNFCCC, 17% or over half of the 29% of the emission reduction target, comes from land based sector, which are mainly forest and peatlands.

EARTH’S CLIMATE HISTORY

Climate is not a static set of weather conditions, constant over eons; rather it varies, sometimes in dramatic ways, over time. The hot climate of the newlyformed Earth gave way to glaciers in a little more than a billion years, an immense time by human reckoning, but not nearly so long by geological standards. Earth’s climate has alternated many times between hot and cold periods of varying magnitudes. Radiation from the Sun, the ocean currents, rainfall, wind, continental drift, the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, volcanic activity, radioactivity in the Earth’s core, the eccentricity of Earth’s orbit around the sun, the tilt of Earth’s axis, and photosynthesis all affect climate. Climate has not one, but, rather, myriad causes. Disentangling these causes is not easy, but it is necessary to understanding why climate changes over time. The current climate is warming. The culprit, carbon dioxide, has been increasing in the atmosphere, driving up temperature, and prompting speculation over Earth’s future climate.

DAMPAK MERKURI TERHADAP MANUSIA DAN LINGKUNGAN

Sebagian besar merkuri yang terdapat di alam ini dihasilkan oleh sisa industri dalam jumlah ± 10.000 ton setiap tahunnya. Penggunaan merkuri sangat luas di mana ± 3.000 jenis kegunaan dalam industri pengolahan bahan-bahan kimia, proses pembuatan obat-obatan yang digunakan oleh manusia serta sebagai bahan dasar pembuatan insektisida untuk pertanian (Christian et al dalam Alfian, 2006).

Gambar 1. Diagram aliran merkuri di biosfer

ANALISIS DAMPAK METANA BAGI KEHIDUPAN

Metana merupakan gas yang terbentuk oleh adanya ikatan kovalen antara empat atom H dengan satu atom C. Metana merupakan suatu alkana. Alkana secara umum mempunyai sifat sukar bereaksi (memiliki afinitas kecil) sehingga biasa disebut sebagai parafin. Sifat lain dari alkana adalah mudah mengalami reaksi pembakaran sempurna dengan oksigen menghasilkan gas karbon dioksida (CO₂) dan uap air (H₂O) dengan reaksi:

CH_{4 (g}) + O_{2 (g)} à  CO_{2 (g)} + H₂O _(g)

Metana merupakan gas yang tidak berwarna, sehingga tidak bisa dilihat dengan mata telanjang. Tetapi metana dapat diidentifikasi melalui indra penciuman karena baunya yang khas. Sebenarnya gas metana berada di sekitar kita. Beberapa di antaranya akan saya sebutkan di sini.