AS FLOODING INTENSIFIES, COASTAL MEGACITIES TURN TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO STAY AFLOAT...

Picture: JAY DIRECTO/AFP/Getty Images

Coastal cities around the world are facing multiple environmental challenges, including rising seas, increasing storm surges and more frequent flooding...

As the video below from the University of Wollongong shows, megacities in Southeast Asia — such as Jakarta, Indonesia — are particularly at risk.

Over the past 20 years, Jakarta has experienced one of the highest rates of urbanization in the world — with a current population of over 30 million in the greater metropolitan area. Compounding the city’s problems is the fact that most of the land lies within a watershed that is prone to flooding during the monsoon season.

Realizing the city has a high rate of social media usage, a team of researchers led by Tomas Holderness & Etienne Turpin developed an open source map that monitors tweets related to flooding in real time.

According to Turpin, harnessing the power of social media is helping “provide an information system and decision support system for the flood management team in Jakarta.”

Over the long range, projects like this may help other coastal cities better prepare for and adapt to increased flooding as the planet warms. View Ensia homepage

 

 

Author profile image Todd Reubold
@treubold Ensia publisher and director
original story HERE.
To see our most current positions, opinions, comments, agreement or disagreement with this article, and/or possible criticisms related to the subjects or facts raised in the above article, click here.  Then look for those subjects in the navigation links at the top the page. To learn about more about global warming, climate change or greenhouse gases as well as the causes, consequences, solutions, definitions, facts and tipping points related to these subjects, click here
 
To automatically be emailed a summary of the latest news on global warming, sign up for our Global Warming Blog by clicking here. (Put your email address in the Global Warming Blog Subscribe box at the bottom right of the page.) 
 
To sign a critical petition for declaring a national and international global warming State of Emergency, click  here!

To help do something about the climate change and global warming emergency, click here.

Sign up for our free Global Warming Blog by clicking here. (In your email, you will receive critical news, research, and the warning signs for the next global warming disaster.)

To share this blog post: Go to the Share button to the left below.


Be the first to comment

Please check your e-mail for a link to activate your account.
Get More Info Here Take Action Support Our Mission

Subscribe to Our Global Warming Blog

Subscribe

Subscribe to Our Global Warming Blog

Subscribe