The polar ice caps are melting, fast. Immediate actions are needed to both slow down the rate of meltdown and to seek ways and means to become resilience to the impending impacts. The urgency to do so is clear by understanding the archipelagic nature of Indonesia and other similar countries such as the Micronesia and Fiji islands. It is without doubt that when arctic ice caps melt, global sea level would rise and pose a threat to coastal populations in these archipelagos. The effect of this is not limited to merely rising sea level that threatens to sink islands, but climate and weather patterns. This in turn will impact crop yields worldwide, and affect one of the most essential parts of life: food. The key to both slowing down the rate of meltdown and to prepare against rising sea level is to understand the changes occurring in the Arctic and further explore actions to adapt and ajust to changes occurring to the planetEarth. It is timeto questions present economic activities, and change to more sustainable measures in responding to this prevalent climate problem.
In light of this urgent problem, the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Indonesia (FEBUI) in collaboration with The Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) from the University of Colorado and Indonesia Friends of Nature (SahabatAlam), hosted an event that foster a visual understanding of the environmental, and the scientific and sociological processes of change within the Arctic to a wider audience. The content of the eventconsisted of presentation of the award-winning research, unprecedented database and gallery of photography from the world-renowned NCAR (The National Center for Atmospheric Research from the University of Colorado) and from Indonesian global environmental change experts. The event further connected scientific research based in the United States with climate scientists and the larger population in Indonesia in order to garner more awareness on the significance of the Arctic region.
Collectively it was suggested that change willbegin when everyone is aware of the urgent nature of the issue. In an effort to make Arctic and other related environmental issues more grounded for public consumption, this talk show and award-winning photographs exhibition was held under the theme of Revealing the Arctic: Adapting to Climate Change. Various youth institutions, including but not limited to IkatanAbang None Jakarta, SahabatAlamdanIkatanAbangMpok Kota Bekasi, environment enthusiasts, and the general public were invited to @america on November 5, 2016 to attend the discussion.
The event was opened with a note to further encourage collaborative efforts by Vita Silvira, S.E., MBA., the Vice Dean of Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Indonesia, and continued by a highly with insightful speakers namely Prof (Em) Emil Salim, Former State Minister on Population and Environment, Kerry Koepping, American award-winning Arctic photographer and researcher, Lars Moller, NIRAS Environmental Adviser, and SitiAdiprigandari Adiwoso, M.Sc., Ph.D., S.H. from FEBUI. Adeline Tiffanie Suwana, who is also a student at the Faculty of Economics and Business Universitas Indonesia, moderated the event as representative from SahabatAlam Foundation. It is hoped that participants and the general public will have a much better understanding about changes taking place in the Arctic,and the effects on global ecosystem and global warming.
