December floods just tip of the iceberg, warns don
The Star, 9 Feb 2015
KUALA LUMPUR: The floods which hit some states late last year are expected to recur “more frequently and with greater intensity” as a result of global warming and the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO).
Climatologist and oceanographer Prof Dr Fredolin T. TangangIt reported that MJO was a factor for the December heavy rains in Malaysia.
MJO is an element in the tropical weather pattern which occurs over 20 to 60 days as compared to El Nino, which happens in three to seven years.
When MJO meets the north-east monsoon and the cold surge from the north, the result will be exceptionally heavy rainfall.
Prof Fredolin, a lecturer at the Faculty of Science and Technology at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said there were already studies proving that the increase in global temperatures caused phenomena like El Nino, La Nina and MJO to be stronger and more frequent.
“This means in future, Malaysia will face more frequent extreme rain and droughts caused by these,” Prof Fredolin said recently.
He said his studies showed that the 2006 heavy floods in Johor were caused by the MJO. — Bernama
