YearStarter 2023: Environment – Climate change was the talk of the town

2022 ended with yet another tragedy: a massive landslide brought on by even more rain. This really was the year that climate change entered our national conversation.. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star

The year 2022 started with the tailend of one of the worst floods to hit Malaysia in decades that killed dozens, and it ended with yet another tragedy: a massive landslide brought on by even more rain.

For years, climate change has been much talked about among environmentalists and activists in the country, but perhaps for the first time, ordinary Malaysians are now beginning to expressly worry about it. Or rather, one effect of it: more rainfall, brought about by extreme weather caused by climate change coupled with the La Nina weather phenomenon now running into the third year.