Sinking fast

A boy walks on the top of a giant sea wall in northern Jakarta, during sunset. One of the

fastest-sinking cities on earth, environmental experts warn that one third of Indonesia’s capital could be submerged by 2050 if current rates continue. Decades of uncontrolled and excessive depletion of groundwater reserves, rising sea-levels, and increasingly volatile weather patterns mean swathes of it have already started to disappear. Existing environmental measures have had little impact, so authorities are taking drastic action: the nation will have a new capital. “The capital of our country will move to the island of Borneo,” Indonesian leader Joko Widodo said on Twitter.