Storms and flooding are hitting us with a vengeance this year. For the first time in my life I was nearly blown off my feet by super strong winds and rain that was unleashed in PJ last Friday evening.
This freaky weather phenomena looks set to be a long term if not permanent feature of our weather system if this report is true. Scientists now say pollution from Asia is helping generate stronger storms. These come in the form of tiny particles generated from coal burning in China and India which had been going on for decades.
The terrible air pollution in China is no fairy tale as I found out recently when I went there.
Above was the sight that greeted me on the approach to Guangzhou airport. The clouds sit in a reddish brown soup caused by emissions from coal fired plants.
And this is the view of Guangzhou airport as we drove on the highway. The haze is a permanent feature that just hangs in the air day and night. Even rain won't clear it.
While Malaysia is quite far away from the North Pacific area mentioned in the report, I don't think we are ever free from the climactic effects of pollution from the greater Asian continent. We experience this first hand every August & September when haze from Indonesian forest fires envelop us.
Whether forest fire or dirty coal-fired plants, tons of carbon particles are ejected into the air where they stay suspended and add to the grim load already carried by the atmosphere.
"The Pacific storm track, they noted, plays a critical role in global atmospheric circulation, and altering this weather pattern could have a significant impact on the climate," says the report.
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