Don’t blame climate change for cooler weather

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.