I have been delayed writing this blog by a tropical storm that took three hours this afternoon, rather than the half hour evening downpour I had became so used to some years ago. Every local I talk to says that the climate pattern is changing, it’s wetter and hotter. And, much like the taxi driver today, most end their replies with a slight shrug and something of an explanation; ‘global warming’.
On the other side of the world, in my own back yard of the English Lake District, it is also noticeably warmer and wetter - if that is at all possible! Research shows, interestingly, that the average size of raindrops has increased by 10% over the last 10 years while the average temperature of Windermere has risen by one degree per decade.
All of this does make a difference. Larger raindrops mean faster soil erosion, more flooding, and less useful land. In Singapore it now floods where it never has before and you can see the signs of deeper canals and flood defences being constructed all over this city. To add insult to injury, each November the air here is filled with choking smog as the Indonesian farmers, only a few miles across The Straits, but out of the reach of local authorities, burn off more forest.
We know it’s complicated. Singapore
David Jackman
