Highland warming

Temperatures in Malaysia's highland areas including the three major hill resorts – Cameron Highlands, Genting Highlands and Fraser's Hill – are rising and over-development has been blamed for this. Global Environment Centre (GEC) director Faizal Parish said the maximum temperature in the highlands had climbed between 2°C and 3°C in the last 25 years due to the clearing of forests and over-development.

In 1984, the annual maximum temperature in Cameron Highlands was 24.6°C and over the years, it has gradually increased, hitting 27.9°C in 1998. Residents and visitors are saying that it is no longer as cold as before. Genting Highlands is not faring any better. Residents there remember having to start up a coal stove in their rooms before leaving for work in the morning to keep the room warm when they get home. There is no need to do that now. In Fraser's Hill, back in the 1970s, one only needed to immerse a bottle of soft drink in the water at the waterfall to chill it.

Faizal explained that trees cooled the air around them, adding: "One big tree is the equivalent to 10 air conditioners". He said the climbing temperature in the highlands could also cause chaos to the ecosystem. "As the lowland species of insects, plants and birds start to move to the highlands, it can lead to the extinction of certain highland species as they have nowhere to go," he said.

(2007-03-07 12:30:09 SGT) [Env] Permalink

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