Give a clearer explanation for cold spell, Met Dept told


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.

Read: Cooler days ahead in Malaysia

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.

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