Rashvinjeet S. Bedi The Star 25 Jan 14;
PETALING JAYA: An environmentalist has demanded for a better explanation from the Meteorological Department for the cold spell that is engulfing the country.
Centre for Environment, Development and Technology Malaysia chairman Gurmit Singh said that while there was a possibility that cold winds from China could be causing the current cold spell, he believed climate change also played a part.
“They have not made it clear why the winds are blowing here from China. I have never heard of this in the past,” he said adding that the current cold weather in China was abnormal.
“The Meteorological Department have to come up with better explanations,” he added.
The department reportedly said that many parts of the east coast, northern and central regions of Malaysa are experiencing cold weather due to the north-easterly winds from China. The cold spell can be expected to last over the next few weeks.
One of the lowest temperatures recorded for a lowland area was in Kuala Krai, Kelantan when temperatures dropped to 17.2°C on Thursday.
Elsewhere, Malaysians have been talking about the colder weather.
Gurmit said in the past, the weather during the Chinese New Year period has usually been hot.
“The weather changes could be due to climate change. China’s extreme cold weather is related to climate change,” he said.
He explained that climate change was related to the increase in frequency of weather extremes, whether dry or wet.
Elsewhere, unusual weather has occurred in Washington where snowstorms are hitting the American capital with floods hitting parts of United Kingdom.
In Thailand, it was reported that the cold spell in the north, northeast and central regions has killed 63 people in the past three months. Bangkok itself suffered its coldest night in three decades with temperatures of 15.6°C on Thursday night.
In December last year, Egypt and Northern Vietnam experienced rare snowfall.
Don’t blame climate change for cooler weather
The Star 25 Jan 14;
PETALING JAYA: The current cooler weather in Malaysia cannot be blamed solely on climate change, said the Metrological Department.
Its National Weather Forecast Centre director Muhammad Helmi Abdullah said natural climate variability was also a huge factor.
“Extreme weather events could be caused by climate change. However, it is hard to attribute any one weather event to just climate change,” he said.
Many Malaysians believe that the current weather is a result of climate change.
Helmi explained that the weather currently experienced by Malaysia was caused by the cold and dry northeasterlies from China and Siberia, where it is winter at the moment.
These dry winds and cloudless nights have contributed to the cooler weather at night and in the early mornings, he said.
One of the lowest temperatures recorded for a lowland area was in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, where temperatures dropped to 17.2°C on Thursday.
He said the earth has its own natural weather cycle that was not due to human activities.
He cited the El Nino and La Nina phenomena as natural climate variabilities that cause extreme weather patterns.
“These natural patterns can occur every few years and have nothing to do with human activity,” he said.
Did it snow on the summit of Mount Kinabalu?
The Star 25 Jan 14;
KOTA KINABALU: Did it snow at Mount Kinabalu just before dawn on Jan 17 when temperatures dipped to -3°C?
A report submitted to Sabah Parks by their head ranger Martin Mogurin indicated that there were signs of snow at the summit area of the 4,101m-high mountain along the Crocker Range around 4am.
Martin said guides at the mountain submitted a report but were unable to back it up with pictures as it was dark. Sabah Parks officials are trying to verify the report.
Sabah Parks chairman Tengku Zainal Adlin, who has climbed every face of Mount Kinabalu in the last five decades, is not surprised over the snow report.
Zainal said that ice on the mountain was common, especially in the early hours of the morning.
Sabah Parks director Paul Basintal said he was gathering information but he has his doubts about the snow.
Sabah meteorologists, however, are firm in dismissing any possibility of snow on Mount Kinabalu as it was too close to the Equator.
“Ice occurrence, yes, but snow? Not possible,’’ said Sabah Meteorological Department director Abdul Malik Tussin.
He said Sabah has been experiencing cold weather due to the annual Siberian winds coupled with high amount of rain due to the usually wet northeast monsoon season and a low atmospheric pressure over Sabah.
