Marufish BLoG

The Star, 20 June 2016 KUALA LUMPUR: The excessive rainfall in recent days, especially in the Klang Valley, is due to the impact of the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) phenomenon, says an expert. Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Climatology and Oceanography specialist Prof Dr Fredolin Tangang said the country was currently in the midst of the South-west monsoon season, and the weather should be hot and dry. “MJO occurs as a result of the interaction between the ocean and the atmosphere, causing large-scale convection in the western part of the Indian Ocean,” he added when asked to comment on the massive rainfall occurring in the Klang Valley in the late afternoons. The US-based Climate Prediction Centre revealed in a report that the MJO phenomenon would occur in the Indian Ocean with a large-scale increase in atmospheric convection in the first week of this month. “However, this situation will only last for another one to two weeks, when the phenomenon moves more ...

The Star, 17 June 2016 PETALING JAYA: Another magnitude 6.0 earthquake could jolt Ranau, Sabah, in the next two or three decades. Revealing this, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Datuk Seri Madius Tangau said the assessment was based on “past records”. “Earthquakes are unpredictable but using past records, we can provide a return period of the same magnitude earthquake at the previous location,” he told  The Star . In 1976, an earthquake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale occurred in Lahad Datu. On June 5 last year, Mount Kinabalu and the surrounding districts were jolted by a series of earthquakes, with the first measuring 6.0. The incident killed 18 climbers, including four mountain guides. Madius said the Mensaban and the Lobou-Lobou Fault Zones in Kundasang-Ranau and Lahad Datu-Tawau Fault Zones were active and earthquakes in these areas “have caused and will continue to cause” damage to the infrastructure there. He said further studies were ne...