*Universiti Malaya researchers are investigating how climate processes in the Arctic and Antarctic may be connected to Malaysia’s monsoons and rainfall.

SEPTEMBER 9 — Malaysians may be thousands of kilometres from the Arctic and Antarctic, but changes at the poles may not be as distant from our daily lives as they seem.

Our weather is shaped by a climate system that extends far beyond Malaysia. The Northeast Monsoon brings periods of intense rainfall that can lead to major flooding, particularly along the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia. Understanding the wider climate processes associated with monsoon variability is therefore important as the global climate continues to change.

Scientists have long known that climate conditions in one part of the world can influence weather elsewhere. A familiar example is El Niño. Although it begins with changes in the tropical Pacific Ocean, El Niño conditions are commonly associated with hotter and drier conditions in Malaysia, while La Niña can contribute to wetter conditions.

Scientists call these long-distance climate relationships teleconnections. Researchers are increasingly examining how the tropics and polar regions are connected through large-scale atmospheric and oceanic processes. For Malaysia, this raises an important question: how might climate variability at high latitudes relate to the monsoon systems that influence our region?

Understanding tropical-polar connections has been part of Malaysia’s Antarctic research for more than two decades. Early work led by Emeritus Professor Datuk Dr Azizan Abu Samah at the National Antarctic Research Centre (NARC), Universiti Malaya, helped establish research into links between polar and tropical climate systems. Building on this foundation, NARC researchers continue to investigate these relationships and their relevance to monsoon variability.

Research involving the group has examined the relationship between Antarctic sea-ice extent in the Indian Ocean sector and the Indian Summer Monsoon. The findings contribute to a growing body of research on the atmospheric processes connecting Antarctic climate variability with lower latitudes.

The team is also interested in understanding climate processes associated with the Northeast Monsoon over Malaysia. One relevant large-scale pattern is the Arctic Oscillation (AO), which describes variations in atmospheric pressure between the Arctic and the mid-latitudes. The AO can influence atmospheric circulation over East Asia, including the Siberian High and the occurrence of cold surges.

Cold surges are pulses of strong northeasterly winds that move across the South China Sea during the Northeast Monsoon. As these winds travel southwards, they can gain moisture over the sea and influence rainfall over Southeast Asia. Previous research involving Universiti Malaya researchers has shown that cold surges and their interaction with other regional weather systems can contribute to episodes of heavy rainfall over Peninsular Malaysia.

For Malaysia, understanding these processes can improve scientific knowledge of monsoon variability and the atmospheric conditions associated with extreme rainfall. However, the pathways linking polar climate variability, regional atmospheric circulation and Malaysian weather are complex and remain an active area of research.

Malaysia is also contributing to international efforts to advance understanding of tropical–polar climate connections. Associate Professor Dr Sheeba Chenoli of Universiti Malaya has chaired the Tropical Antarctic Teleconnections (TATE) Action Group, under the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research (SCAR), since 2018.

The initiative brings together researchers from across disciplines and regions to investigate the complex interactions and teleconnections between the tropics and Antarctica, strengthening international collaboration and advancing knowledge of how changes in one region can influence climate variability and extremes in the other region.

During the XXXIX SCAR Delegates Meeting, held in Oslo, Norway, from August 17–19, 2026, following the 12th SCAR Open Science Conference, the TATE Action Group was formally transitioned into a SCAR Expert Group. This work forms part of Malaysia’s wider Antarctic research efforts through NARC and Yayasan Penyelidikan Antartika Sultan Mizan (Sultan Mizan Antarctic Research Foundation), strengthening the country’s contribution to international polar and climate science.

For a tropical country such as Malaysia, polar research may initially seem remote. Yet studying the Arctic and Antarctic also contributes to understanding a global climate system in which changes and variability in one region can be connected to processes far beyond it.

The poles may be at the ends of the Earth, but understanding their connections with the tropics can help us better understand the climate closer to home.

*The author is a meteorologist and climatologist who is Head of the Physical Science Group at the National Antarctic Research Centre, Universiti Malaya, and can be reached at sheeba@um.edu.my

** This is the personal opinion of the writers or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of Malay Mail.