January 28, 2026 | 05:16 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Meteorology, Climatology, and Geophysics Agency (BMKG) has responded to public perceptions that weather modification operations (OMC) are a false solution and a potential catalyst for flooding. According to BMKG, this view is erroneous, as OMC is conducted as a disaster mitigation measure using precise, science-based methods.
"The challenge of climate change is not mere speculation, as the potential for extreme rainfall continues to increase," BMKG stated in an official release on Wednesday, January 28, 2026. "The government has no vested interest in creating adverse weather conditions that would damage the economy or endanger the public."
BMKG explained that OMC is carried out by seeding existing clouds with salt, rather than creating new clouds. The purpose of this seeding is to accelerate precipitation before clouds reach specific areas vulnerable to flood risks.
Addressing concerns that OMC might shift rainfall and trigger floods in neighboring regions, BMKG highlighted two precise technical methods. The first is the "jumping process," where teams detect cloud supplies over the ocean and seed them so that rain falls at sea before reaching land.
The second method is the "competition method," applied to clouds developing directly over land. Seeding is performed early to disrupt cloud growth, preventing them from evolving into massive, destructive cumulonimbus formations. The objective is to reduce rainfall intensity in that specific area, not to relocate it elsewhere.
BMKG emphasized that the primary driver of flooding is not solely the volume of rainfall, but also the decline in environmental carrying capacity. Data indicates that the loss of approximately 800 reservoirs in the Jabodetabek area since the 1930s has significantly reduced water infiltration zones. This degradation makes it increasingly difficult for the soil to effectively absorb rainwater.
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