By Waseem Razzaq Khan
Whenever a natural catastrophe happens in the form of a storm, typhoon, flood, tsunami, etc., it is commonly ascribed to “climate change”. “Look, this is the effect of climate change”.
Is this true? Is “climate change” real? Isn’t “climate’ = “weather’, and the weather is changing all the time? Well, not quite.
Weather deals with short-term, localised atmospheric conditions (e.g. today’s weather in Kuching is good); but climate refers to the weather conditions of a larger region for a long time.
Climate change does not refer to a phenomenon within a week or month but refers to observations around the world over decades.
Global Warming and Climate Change
Temperature is a key indicator of climate change. Before the term “climate change” appeared, another commonly used term was “global warming”.
The World Meteorological Organization recorded 6th July 2023 as the hottest day since scientists started measuring daily average global mean surface air temperature methodologically in the 1940s.
This new highest temperature record is 17.08°C, obviously cooler than Malaysia’s temperature.
This temperature represents the global daily average, taking into account the high temperature of noon time in Malaysia and the low temperature of midnight in Antarctica.
A multi-year global average shows an uptrend of the temperature of our planet.
There is a worldwide movement to control the global average temperature rise to not more than 1.5 to 2°C above the 1850-1900 (pre-industry era) average.
Temperature change will affect many things – surface water evaporation rate, cloud formation, rainfall, ocean current, wind speed and direction – that change the planet’s weather systems.
Here, it is important to mention the effect of climate change, whether it is negative or positive.
Frequent harsh events like heat waves, extremely cold weather, excessive rainfall, flooding, droughts and typhoons are considered negative. However, there are a few positive effects of climate change, too.
Due to changes in weather patterns, in specific parts of the world, farmers can cultivate two or three crops in one year, which was impossible two or three decades ago.
In countries with extreme winter environments, the warming effect can lead to less suffering.
The effects of climate change in Malaysia are projected in Figure, with most areas of Sarawak expecting hotter and wetter weather.
We do not aim to enforce the belief that climate change is real or bad onto our readers. Rather, we leave it to their discretion based on their observations and understanding.
Greenhouse Effect
Temperature change is a result of the energy that Earth receives from the sun in the form of light. Sunlight takes 8 minutes 20 seconds to come to the earth, upon which it will be reflected to space (~29%) or absorbed by the earth’s surface and atmosphere (71%).
The captured light contributes to the heating of our earth. For example, when we park our car in the sunlight and come back after work to sit in the car, we feel the inside of our car is heated by the sunlight.
The same thing happens to our earth. The atmosphere wraps around the earth like a blanket or a greenhouse that keeps the heat in.
We are not saying that the greenhouse effect is not good for the earth. Without the greenhouse effect of the atmosphere, our planet will be too cold to live (-18 °C); however, with too much of the greenhouse effect, our planet will become warmer.
A few gases in the atmosphere enhance the greenhouse effect. These gases are called greenhouse gases (GHGs). Depending on the season, water vapour may constitute up to 4% of the atmosphere; other greenhouse gases make up <0.04%. However, their effect on the earth’s temperature is profound.
Greenhouse Gases in Earth’s Atmosphere
water vapor H2O
carbon dioxide CO2
methane CH4
nitrous oxide N2O
ozone O3
chlorofluorocarbons CFCs and HCFCs
hydrofluorocarbons HFCs
perfluorocarbons CF4, C2F6, etc
sulphur hexafluoride SF6
nitrogen trifluoride NF3
What would happen if the concentration of greenhouse gases increases? More heat will be trapped in the earth’s atmosphere, and it will cause global warming.
Human activities like industrialisation and construction and development projects emit greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, and these factors contribute to global warming and climate change.
It is important here for me to obtain the consent of another scientist regarding climate change. I reached out to Dr Jane Koh and Dr Shazali Johari.
Dr Jane Koh who is director of Southridge Malaysia Sdn Bhd, explained that “climate change is an unfortunate reality that we are currently facing in the form of tsunamis and other natural disasters.
She also mentioned that some do not believe in climate change, despite its undeniable existence. However, with concerted global efforts in policies, technology innovation, and nature-based activities, we can mitigate the effects of climate change”.
Dr Shazali Johari, who is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Forestry and Environment at UPM, added that “By polluting the oceans, failing to reduce CO2 emissions, and destroying ecosystems, we are slowly killing our planet. We must acknowledge that there is no alternative planet for us to live on”.
In the next article, we will explain more about greenhouse gas and ‘carbon’, which is often talked about by the Premier of Sarawak in the context of ‘carbon trading’.
Future Reading:
University of California Museum of Paleontology has a very nice infographic about global change:
https://ugc.berkeley.edu/what-is-global-change/infographic/
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change provides an interactive visualization on the effect of climate change. https://interactive-atlas.ipcc.ch
