Malaysia is situated along tectonic plates, accounting for a significant disaster hazard at any moment, but this is not even the worst of Malaysia's weather patterns. Climate change has taken a significant toll on the weather all over the globe, but Malaysians tend to agree that the Pacific Southeast has been afflicted by unpredictable winds and tornadoes, landslides, and flooding, among other extreme conditions. However, the climate overall remains drier "than usual," but random rainstorms wreak havoc on Malaysians who endure egregious flooding and unstable soils after these periods.
I came across a very interesting article detailing the increased severity of weather conditions in the country circa 2014 (and in recent years), outlining these changes in weather and pointing towards a global climate change with increasing episodes of hazardous weather.
People debate about the impact of human on the environment, and whether we represent a threat to the earth's stability; but we are constantly uncovering new evidence of global warming trends and natural activity that is unusual or occurring more frequently than in previous recorded decades.
A famous tsunami that occurred in the pacific Southeast was even depicted in a Hollywood film. The changes in weather are not only increasing, they are concerning.
Another phenomenon occurring in Malaysian cities (and around the world) is the documented "urban island heat effect" in which an urban city (and its impending congestion, vehicular smog, "a local climactic condition in which a metropolitan are my become as much as 22 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than the surrounding countryside."(317). This brings to mind cities like Los Angeles, where downtown/Glendale area can get into the 90s during the summer, but nearby coastal cities, (or high elevation foothill towns) like Santa Monica are a few degrees cooler (maybe low-mid 80s). Travel up about 45 minutes to Santa Barbara, and the weather may be 10-15 degrees cooler than the hot city of LA (70s-80s). It makes sense that the high rise buildings and the surrounding asphalt and concrete jungle soak up significant warmth throughout the day and make it that much hotter than other areas.
Sources:
http://www.thestar.com.my/lifestyle/features/2014/12/15/dry-muddy-and-very-windy-malaysian-weather-gets-extreme-in-2014/
Natural Hazards, Keller, DeVecchio
