What will it take to convince us that tackling climate change (aggravated by deforestation) should be a national priority in the coming year?
Last year was notable for the number of environmental crises that struck us.
1. The unusual and prolonged dry season and water shortages especially in Selangor and the Klang Valley. This alone should have been enough to tell us that something has gone seriously wrong in a country usually blessed with abundant tropical rainfall.
2. The disastrous landslide and flooding at Cameron Highlands.
3. The mini-tornadoes that caused havoc in Kedah (and the water spout in Penang?)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1mzj4Pm4eE
4. The massive year-end floods that swamped the peninsula. Weather stations in the East Coast recorded almost double the usual amount of rainfall in December 2014.
5. The unexpected bad weather that contributed to the downing of AirAsia flight from Surabaya to KL (see the weather map below, hours after the incident occurred).
6. The year-end freak windstorm that blew off roof-tops in Balik Penang, Penang (see video at the top).
7. Tropical storm Janghi, which narrowly missed hitting Sabah.
These incidents, looked at in isolation, may not suggest anything untoward is taking place. But if we look at them collectively, perhaps they point to something larger that is looming almost unnoticed: climate change.
And what are we doing about it while our forests are rapidly vanishing?
What has happened to Malaysia’s commitment to reduce emissions by 40 per cent?
Why are we allowing our precious green spaces to be gobbled by high-end property development?
Why are we selling even more cars rather than dramatically improving public transport across the nation?
Why does renewable energy only comprise 1 per cent of national power generation? (If folks in Australia can install solar panels to power their home air-conditioning, as an Australian friend of mine has just done, what is stopping us, in a country blessed with abundant sunshine, from relying on genuinely renewable energy sources)?
Why are our media not highlighting climate change more? Is it because it will demand that corporations, which provide advertising revenue to the media, cut their emissions and that the government change its development priorities that currently favour mega projects and Big Business?
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The website Common Dreams has excellent reporting on the environment.
Climate change is real and is impacting everywhere.
The climate is changing quickly and one group of American scientists say the effects of global warming are threatening some of America’s most treasured historic landmarks.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/climate-change/1567112.html
7 is an ominous number associated with the Se7en Deadly Sins. What has happened just just be a teaser to a blockbuster disaster if the environment is continued to be damaged.
But in such danger lies opportunity for that World Of Feng Shui Lady to market her feng shui items in the name of warding off the affliction.
Confirmed fend sui practishioner Joey Yap will be conducting his prediction seminar for year of Host in Penang this month. I will attend it if his topics cover how ringgit fare in 2015 and aviation scenario. Last year Lilian Too off target as she expected rosy horse year for Msia.
anyway, on 2nd thought it’s better to donate to the needs instead of attending such syiok sending events.
To be exact, the Chinese zodiac sign of the Goat is only starting from Feb 19 2015. And it’s an “extremely dry and hard” year of 乙未（wood+earth) goat which signifies a very difficult year financially !
Moreover, the Bazi (å…«å—) of Spring starting day of Feb 4 2015 of 辛亥 is not auspicious when reading with the 乙未 goat year.
Let’s only hope for the best. Just my 2sen opinion.
Fengshui or not, it is common sense not to degrade / destroy / pollute the environment. The consequences of: Botak the hills = less rain water retention, less moisture capture, less oxygen production. The less trees on the hills also means less absorption of carbon dioxide > to more heat in the atmosphere. And the no tree ambience is no bird songs to soothe the stressed souls. Degrade the seas = less clear sea water but muddied (like polluted air), less plankton, less fishes, less oxygen, less movement of fresh seawater & cooler marine temperature, shallower sea depths, more artificial… Read more »
Malaysian Feng Shui Master Louis Loh last year (on 5th day of Lunar New Year 2014) predicted correctly that air disaster will inflict Malaysia, natural disaster would take place on the East Coast, Education would be in dispute (i.e. Dong Zong issue) in Malaysia in 2014.
Bolehsia is so violently greedy that it is even reclaiming land from the sea. According to Prof. Chan Ngai Weng (USM, in Star on 6/1), the main factors for flooding in Bolehsia are these: – Land use: logging, agriculture, levelling, construction, etc. It increases run-off from precipitation about 10 times (from 80-90% to 10-20%). – Land use: as above, also restriction of river banks and destruction of marshes. It increases silting of rivers by about 100 times. – Over dependence on “structural measures” (public construction, dredging, etc.) without other aspects (laws, enforcement, land zoning, education, alert system, preparedness, disaster recovery… Read more »
Change our diet change the climate. Vegan is the way
Hello Frank
It will be great if you can tell readers which outlets offer Vegan food e.g. in Penang island.
We need to encourage more readers to find real joy of non meat dishes.
cheers.
Precisely how much livestock contributes to climate change remains up for debate: studies show numbers ranging from 18% (a 2006 UN food report) to 51% (a 2009 World Watch study). Most other studies fall somewhere in that range but, in each of them, the advice is the same: humans need to eat less meat to curb climate change and resource scarcity. Raising animals to eat produces more greenhouse gasses (via methane and nitrous oxide) than all of the carbon dioxide excreted by automobiles, boats, planes and trains in the world combined. Over a 20-year period, methane has 86 times more… Read more »
Good info. Thanks.
Eat less KFC, more KFB (Kampung Fried Belacan) as advocated by 1PM.
Sorry, KFB should be Kangkung Fried Belacan.
Eat more vege. Support local vege with your Ringgit.
Meat The Facts – On Global Warming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiYghMmFc_8
Spend your next 4 minute watching this Youtube video – A shocking look at the state of the planet and the effects of meat consumption on our precious home.
Should consider rearing cows in condos to reduce the size of land used. Perhaps the NFC should consider selling this expertise worldwide. Or better still, our leaders can promote this ‘Teknik Ciptaan Malaysia’ during global climate submits.
The factors producing greenhouse gases include these: (a) conversion of forests to fields (logging lah) (b) fodder: fertilizer production, agriculture and processing (c) CO2 and methane the livestock emit directly; the latter mainly because grass-eating animals are fed grain (d) farm machinery (e) abattoirs, packaging and related waste (f) refrigeration including CFCs (g) higher temperatures to cook meat (h) medical treatment of livestock and meat eaters.
Penang government should set the ball rolling by becoming the first state in Malaysia to totally ban open burning, forcing stationary buses without passengers to turn off their engines, or to only start their engines 5 minutes before the passenger embarking the bus, penalise those who rampantly opening up forest reserve for farming, eg look at Penang Hill, punish those who throwi rubbish into our waterways.
Revise all approved but not yet built high-end condos by the seaside, on the hills and on reclaim lands.
Forget about this controversial tunnel which will waste lots of money.
Get this infamous developer of Botak Relau Hills to fast track replanting of forest trees.
Will CAT show us its genuine promise of a Greener, Cleaner Penang?
You are talking about haze. Even for the more important water supply, when it was running out in some states, they refused even to EDUCATE the public on wasting water. One state insists on giving some free water to everyone. Remember, there is no need for any genius here. Detailed advice and even laws were developed in water-scarce countries long ago.
Is it no scary to see that the 7 phenomena all took place in 2014, mostly are unprecedented? Anil summed it up well. Shame to NST and The Star for failing to give readers such a wake-up call. I suggest Anil post this article to the editors of these papers. Of the 7 phenomena, I think it is very likely that a damaging tropical storm could hit the east coast of Sabah in the near future, as the Philippines have suffered in recent times. The local universities should intensify the intake for environmental engineering. We need to develop more talents… Read more »
NST now costing 30sen more at RM1.50 a copy. I think The Star will increase not subscription but copy price as well due to poorer advertising revenues.
Save money. Just contribute RM6 a month to anilnetto.com equivalent to price of 4 copies of NST and you get more transparent reporting and insider info from some responsible readers.
Not So True (NST) may end up losing buyers with 30 sen hike due to demand elasticity.
For RM1.33/day (lower than RM1.50) one could subscribe to Astro chinese family package of ‘Cheun Min’ to enjoy news reporting from CCTV China, CTI Taiwan and Phoenix Hong Kong to neutralise the toxicity of TV3, besides the 8pm and 10.30pm daily news report from AEC.