. Heatstroke, cardiovascular diseases and chronic kidney diseases are some of the risks from working outdoors during high heat.
Asiyah and her husband Aslori pose for a photo outside their old house they abandoned due to flooding in Mondoliko, Central Java, Indonesia, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)Asiyah and her husband Aslori pose for a photo outside their old house they abandoned due to flooding in Mondoliko, Central Java, Indonesia, Monday, Sept. 5, 2022. (AP Photo/Dita Alangkara)
Java, home to some 145 million people and the Indonesian capital Jakarta, is the most populated island in the world. Scientists say parts of the island will be entirely lost to the sea in the coming years.Much has been written about the, which is being moved partially due to destructive flooding. Other parts of the country with persistent flooding have received less attention.
Some 300 miles (500 kilometers) from Jakarta, entire villages along the Java Sea are submerged in murky brown water. Experts say rising seas and stronger tides as a result of climate change are some of the causes. Gradual sinking of the land and development are also to blame.Mondoliko, where Asiyah is from, is one of those villages.
Asiyah smiles as she describes what Mondoliko was like when she was young: Lush green rice paddies, tall coconuts trees and red chili bushes grew around the some 200 homes people lived in. She and other children would play in the local soccer field, watching snakes glide through the grass while butterflies flew through the air.
“Everyone had land,” she says. “We were all able to grow and have what we needed.”The sun sets, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, near Monument Valley on the Navajo Nation in Halchita, Utah. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)
The sun sets, Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024, near Monument Valley on the Navajo Nation in Halchita, Utah. (AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel)For the couple, having grid electricity at their home near Navajo Mountain in Arizona would end a nearly 12 year wait. They currently live in a recreational vehicle elsewhere closer to their jobs, but have worked on their home on the reservation for years. With power there, they could spend more time where Priscilla grew up and where her dad still lives.
It would make life simpler, Priscilla said. “Because otherwise, everything, it seems like, takes twice as long to do.”Naishadham reported from Washington.