MetMalaysia’s Deputy Director-General of Operations Ambun Dindang told local broadcaster Berita RTM early this month that previous strong El Nino episodes coincided with some of the country’s highest recorded temperatures, including 40.1°C in Chuping, Perlis in April 1998 and 39.3°C in Batu Embun, Perak in 2016.
Malaysia saw strong El Nino episodes recorded in 1997 to 1998 and 2015 to 2016, according to MetMalaysia’s National Climate Centre Director Ahmad Fairudz Jamaluddin.
During the super El Niño phenomenon in 2015, more than 250 schools in northern Peninsular Malaysia had to be temporarily closed due to extreme daily temperatures exceeding 37°C, said Ahmad Fairudz.
Water level at Johor’s Linggiu Reservoir that provides water to Singapore also fell to about 54.5 per cent, the lowest in its 20-year history then.
Hisham cautioned that reduced rainfall and rising temperatures could affect agricultural and livestock production, lower water levels in reservoirs and dams and increase the risk of forest fires and transboundary haze.
To mitigate the impact of dry weather, Hisham said that MetMalaysia is providing technical advice to support cloud-seeding operations aimed at increasing water levels in catchment areas, although such measures can only be carried out when weather conditions are suitable.
“El Nino cannot be controlled because it is a natural phenomenon. What we at MetMalaysia can do is provide information on the conditions that are expected to occur,” he said on Monday, as quoted by Bernama.
Separately, Malaysia’s economy minister Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said on Monday that an extreme El Nino weather could drive up Malaysia’s electricity consumption and disrupt food supply chains, adding to inflationary pressures.
Although peak electricity demand has risen by about 2.5 gigawatts, Akmal said that hotter weather could further increase energy demand, particularly from households as the use of cooling equipment rises, reported media platform The Edge.
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