KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia will not experience the hot and dry spell caused by the El Nino every year because such a phenomenon only happens once in two to seven years.
Deputy Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Datuk Dr Abu Bakar Md Diah said in Malaysia, especially northern states, are currently experience a hot and dry spell due to the El Nino phenomenon and their proximity to the subtropical ridge.
“Subtropical ridge is a significant belt of atmospheric high pressure situated around the latitudes of 30°N in the Northern Hemisphere and 30°S in the Southern Hemisphere,” said Abu Bakar when answering a question from Senator Datuk Jaspal Singh in Dewan Negara, here today.
Jaspal had wanted to know why Malaysia, especially the northern states, were experiencing hot weather and a continuous dry spell this year.
Abu Bakar said the hot and dry spell experienced by Malaysia was not an annual occurrence since records on the El Nino phenomenon showed that there was always a gap.
Malaysia experienced a similar phenomenon in 1982-1983, followed by 1997-1998 and now from 2015-2016.
The El Nino phenomenon did not only affect Malaysia, but other countries in South East Asia, Asia Pacific as well as Australia, he said.--BERNAMA