‘East coast to experience more sea-related issues’

PETALING JAYA: The east coast of Peninsular Malaysia will experience more sea-related problems than the west coast due to the stronger waves there during the monsoon season, according to experts.

“Also, the east coast coastline is highly prone to erosion because it is mostly sandy beaches,” said Universiti Malaysia Terengganu’s Dr Edlic Sathiamurthy.

He said higher sea levels would also mean higher high tides.

“A 50cm rise would be serious when we take into account its effect on tidal range and wave energy,” he said.

And as the high tides grew higher, he said, this would in turn result in more flooding and greater coastal erosion.

The west coast on the other hand faced weaker storms and waves and was naturally protected due to its geographical position and mangrove areas, said National University of Malaysia’s Prof Dr Joy Jacqueline Pereira.

However, Prof Pereira said more places could be flooded whenever there was a new moon phenomenon, which was when the moon was closest to the Earth and caused higher high tides.

“If the sea level was to go higher and there’s a new moon phenomenon, we can expect more areas to be inundated,” she said.

This was noted as one of the factors that led to the massive flooding on the east coast of the peninsula recently.