Environment: February 2007 Archives

There is every indication that Kalla's plans will remain on the drawing board. Jakarta's chaotic development is determined by well-connected construction and real estate tycoons who openly flout regulations and make huge profits speculating in the construction of shopping malls and housing complexes for the wealthy. Jakarta's construction boom over the past decade has compounded the city's flooding problem by gobbling up natural water catchments, such as lakes and rice paddies, and denuding the surrounding hills of trees.

Too many greenhouse gases in the earth's atmosphere will increase the greenhouse effect. The most dangerous aspects of the continuing dramatic climatic change is the effects of feedback loops (amplified change). Examples of the feedback loops are Ice/snow, as the earth warms, the levels of ice and snow decrease. This decrease leads to higher temperatures on the surface, leading to more warming. As the earth warms, the amount of water vapor in the atmosphere goes up which is the most powerful greenhouse gas in existence.