THE year has barely started, and already we have so many reports of weather and climate-related events.
Heavy wind, snow storms and below-freezing temperatures paralysed cities
in the United States’ East Coast. New York’s John F. Kennedy
International Airport was in chaos with hundreds of flights suspended.
Yet, just weeks previously, big fires linked to a heat wave were
sweeping through parts of California on the West Coast, burning
112.000ha of forest and threatening lives and homes.
Colder weather in one place and hotter temperatures in another are signs
of global climate change, which can also cause heavier rainfall and
drought in different regions.
While it is difficult to pin down any particular incident as a direct
result of climate change, it is recognised scientifically that climate
change generally exacerbates extreme weather events and may cause some
of them.
We can expect the weather, and more broadly the environment, to figure prominently this year.
The alarm bells sounded long ago on the environmental crisis. But it is
not easy to achieve a continuous high level of concern among political
leaders.
After a calamity and public outrage, there are pledges to correct the
situation. However, the interest fades after a while, and not much
action is taken, until the next disaster happens.
In Malaysia, people are now looking at the sky constantly to anticipate whether it is going to rain.
Heavy rainfall has been causing floods in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang,
Johor, Negri Sembilan, Kedah, Selangor, Sabah and Sarawak.
In Penang, severe state-wide flash floods seem to be occurring every
few months, with localised flooding in several areas in between. The mud
brought down from eroded hill-slopes into overflowing rivers and then
into houses, makes floods an even worse nightmare for those affected.
For some unlucky ones, hardly have their houses and furniture been
cleaned than they are under one metre of water again through a new
flood.
Heavier rain and more floods is the new normal in Malaysia. There has
been an increase in rainfall for most parts of the country in 2000-2009
compared to 1970-1999, with the major increase in 2005-2009, according
to a 2012 paper by Yap Kok Seng, then the head of the Malaysian
Meteorological Department (MMD), and his colleagues.
The global temperature increase has led to changes in weather including
major wind patterns, amount and intensity of precipitation, and
increased frequency of severe storms and weather extremes, according to
the paper, Malaysia Climate Change Scenarios.
In Malaysia since the 1980s, there had been increasing number of days of
extreme rainfall events, extreme wind events and annual thunderstorm
days, added the paper.
Unfortunately the situation will worsen. A study published on Jan 10,
whose authors are affiliated with Germany’s Potsdam Institute for
Climate Impact Research, predicted that millions more people will be
affected by river flooding as global warming increases severe rainfall
in the next 20 years.
In Asia, the most affected region, people at risk from floods will rise
to 156 million from the present 70 million in the next 20 years.
Global warming increases the risk of flooding because rain during an
extreme downpour “increases exponentially” as temperatures rise, the
institute’s Anders Levermann told Reuters.
“We have to adapt to global warming. Doing nothing will be dangerous,” he said.
Countries will have to act urgently and make major investments in flood
protection to boost their flood defences, according to the report.
This advice surely applies to Malaysia as one of the countries already
being affected by heavier rainfall and extensive river flooding.
Flood mitigation measures must be increased, including de-silting,
widening and deepening rivers, improving urban drainage, strengthening
river banks, redirecting water flows, constructing tidal gates, and
pumping excess water into ponds.
Even more important is flood prevention. A main cause of the floods
is deforestation, leading to the loss of the forests’ valuable roles in
soil and water retention and climate regulation.
It is really short-sighted and irrational to damage and destroy forests, especially forest reserves and water catchment areas.
Exposed soils are swept by rain into rivers, clogging up streams and
drains with mud and causing floods downstream in the towns and villages,
while also depriving us of much-needed water supply.
There is a great deal of public concern over recent developments that threaten forests and hill lands in the country.
These include the de-gazetting of the Ulu Muda water catchment area in
Kedah; the de-gazetting of hill lands in Penang that previously were
protected under the Land Conservation Act and which are now being
“developed” with the aid of higher permitted density ratio; the
conversion of 4,515ha forest reserve to cultivate oil palm plantations
in Terengganu (being opposed by WWF-Malaysia); and protests over the
imminent loss of a forested park in Taman Rimba Kiara in Kuala Lumpur to
make way for housing.
Federal, state and local governments should give priority to
environmental rehabilitation of damaged forests and hills, prevent
damage to the coastal ecosystem including mangroves, and take
comprehensive flood prevention and mitigation measures.
They should stop approving environmentally harmful projects in ecologically sensitive areas.
They must make major financial allocations to protect and rehabilitate
the environment, and implement finance measures to prevent and manage
the floods.
As so many scientists are warning, and as more and more local
communities and citizen groups are demanding, the time to act on the
environment is now. Let us hope that in 2018 these calls will be heeded.
Global trends by Martin Khor
Martin Khor is executive director of the South Centre. The views expressed here are entirely his own.
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