Tag: weather

Hot Weather Means More Expensive Vegetables And Coconuts

JOHOR BARU — Consumers in Singapore can expect to pay more for vegetables from Malaysia and coconuts from Thailand, as the hot weather and lack of rain caused by the El Nino phenomenon continue to hurt crop production in the region and push up prices.

Federation of Malaysian Vegetable Farmers’ Association president Tan So Tiok told The Star newspaper that local vegetable output had dropped 20 per cent since last month. The shortage has also affected supply to Singapore by about the same percentage, he said.

Cameron Highlands Vegetable Growers Association secretary Chay Ee Mong said output from the highlands has dropped between 30 and 40 per cent. About 80 per cent of the output is consumed locally while the rest is exported to Singapore.

Mr Tan said the situation had improved because of the recent rains but the upcoming Ramadan month would create new problems. “Indonesian farm workers will usually head back to their hometowns for the fasting month, which leaves us shorthanded,” he told the paper. “The situation is made worse by the freeze on foreign workers because we can’t take in labourers from other countries to replace those heading home.”

Over in Thailand, the hot weather has affected Thai coconut production and prices have gone up almost 100 per cent in Singapore as a result.

Coconut importer Kelvin Ngian of Siam Coconut told Channel NewsAsia that the prices are the highest he has seen in 15 years.

In the case of coconuts, apart from the hot weather, prices have gone up because there has been an increase in demand for coconuts as drinking coconut water has become a health fad.

The hot weather is also affecting the supply of durians. Last month, it was reported that durian yields in Perak were expected to fall by 50 per cent because durian trees were not flowering and trees were dying because of the lack of rain.

Source: www.todayonline.com

May 19, 2016
More Warm Weather In May!

The next two weeks are expected to be warm and wet, and there could also be slight haze in the morning.

The National Environment Agency said in its latest weather forecast on Friday that, based on long-term statistics, May is the second warmest month in the year, after April.

“Singapore can also expect four or five days of short-duration, thundery showers in the afternoon, and two or three days of thundery showers in the morning,” it said.

The agency noted that rainfall for this month is likely to be “near-normal”, whereas about two-thirds of the country had more rainfall than usual last month.

Central Singapore, around Ang Mo Kio and Lower Peirce Reservoir, received the highest rainfall of 267mm to 324mm, about 55 to 80 per cent above average.

Eastern Singapore, around Pasir Ris and Simei, received the least rainfall of 67mm to 91mm, about 45 to 70 per cent below average.

Source: www.straitstimes.com

May 1, 2015
Hotter And Wetter Singapore Expected In The Future

In the latter part of the 21st century, Singapore could face hotter and wetter days, if no global action is taken to curb greenhouse gas emissions. In a worst-case scenario, daily temperatures could spike to 32°C, while sea levels could rise by more than a metre.

This is according to findings from the first phase of the Second National Climate Change Study, which was released by the Meteorological Service Singapore’s (MSS) Centre for Climate Research Singapore on Wednesday (Apr 15).

The study made use of models from the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) 5th Assessment Report and scaled it down for it to be relevant to Singapore. It used a baseline period of 1980 to 2009 and projected it on the period between 2070 and 2099.

Daily temperatures, for example, could increase from the baseline average of 27.4°C to as much as 32°C – or a 4.6°C rise – should there be no concerted effort to tackle the greenhouse gas emission issue, according to the report.

The study also showed that the hot weather commonly experienced here between February and May could be exacerbated.

In the historical baseline period, there were about 25 days when temperatures hit or exceeded 34.1°C. In a less aggressive projection, Singapore could see between 74 and 108 days with such temperatures, but the worst-case scenario would see such temperatures become the norm here, the study found. Higher temperatures, coupled with the humidity, could result in more heat stress incidents for those working outdoors.

Singapore could also see more rainfall during the wet months of November to January. The percentage of contribution to annual rainfall from very wet days for the less aggressive projection is between 21 per cent and 35.3 per cent, while the other scenario would see a contribution of between 21.5 per cent to 44.1 per cent, the study found.

Meanwhile, the dry Southwest monsoon season could see between 12 and 30 per cent decrease in rainfall under the two scenarios.

February 2014 was the driest month for Singapore in 145 years, with little rain and parched weather conditions. Going forward, while experts said Singapore will not experience this on a yearly basis, such conditions may become more frequent.

Experts point out that rainfall patterns can also be affected by naturally occurring weather cycles.

“Not many people would doubt that some part of the temperature change we have seen for Singapore is due to climate change. But for rainfall, it is a tricky question to say how much of this can be attributed to climate change. It wouldn’t ever be saying it is due to climate change. It would be more of a question of a certain amount of that trend could be due to climate change.”

The findings will go towards the study’s second phase, which will examine the impact of climate change on infrastructure and water resources.

The study was commissioned by the National Environment Agency (NEA) together with the Met Office Hadley Centre in the UK. MSS said the second phase of the study is expected to be ready by the end of the year.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

April 16, 2015