PETALING JAYA, Feb 20 — The large number of vehicles and the haze have contributed to the soaring temperature in the country.
According to pollution expert, Prof Dr N. Kannan, these factors were apparent in valleys where heat tends to get trapped.
“Just like the Bay Area in San Francisco, which is located between two mountains, heat gets trapped within the valley by a layer of fog or haze. This is what we call thermal inversion,” said Kannan.
“The exhaust fumes and heat produced by vehicles also get trapped within the valley and cannot escape.”
Kannan said people should carpool and take public transport more often as it would help ease the situation to a certain extent.
The nation has recorded an average temperature of over 31 degrees Celcius since last month with hardly any rainfall.
The air pollution index (API) in several locations in the Klang Valley yesterday recorded unhealthy readings. According to the Department of Environment’s website, Cheras recorded an API reading of 127 while Shah Alam was 113 as of 3pm.
Universiti Sains Malaysia in Penang recorded an API of 107 but it dropped to 64 an hour later.
An API reading of between 0 and 50 is considered good, 51 to 100 moderate, 101 to 200 unhealthy, 201 to 300 very unhealthy, and 301 and above hazardous.
While admitting Malaysia is not experiencing a heat wave by definition, Kannan said the situation would be manageable if the authorities take the right steps.
“A heat wave is defined by high temperatures sustained somewhere between 35 and 40 degrees Celcius. Here, we still get light showers.”
“The authorities, especially the Meteorological Department, ought to have guidelines as to what constitute a heat wave here.”
He stressed that there be stricter regulations and for limits to be set on nitrous oxide emission.
“We’re not seeing any regulations being enforced, unlike in developed countries such as Germany, who tend to be very strict about environmental matters,” he said.
“The heat can still be managed if levels of pollution are lowered to a certain degree.”
