Did you dig last week’s decidedly lower temperatures? How about the haze we had over the weekend? Blame China.
Scientists say unusually cold weather in our northern neighbour have not only trasferred the cold to us, resulting in temperatures as low as 23 degrees Celsius in KL during midday. But Chinese citizens’ reliance on coal energy to deal with these conditions may also have resulted in our being on the receiving end of fine soot that caused the haze that quickly followed.
“There are many factors that contribute to such instances. As coal is heavily used in China, the winds could carry the soot to this part of the world resulting in the current hazy conditions in Kuala Lumpur and elsewhere,” says pollution scientist Prof Dr K. Narayanan.
He also said Malaysia is currently experiencing a strange phenomenon, as hazy conditions in the country are usually seen later in the year. Narayanan also stated that the higher rate of rainfall from the drastic weather changes would also result in more landslides in tropical countries.
“The pollution level is very unhealthy. I call this local cooling, global warming.”
Source: The Malay Mail Online
