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country’s poverty shows that 5.1% of households
are living below the poverty line in 2002. The adult
literacy rate was 92% in 2008. In the UN Human
Development Index, Malaysia ranks 66th out of in
total 182 countries in 2009. Regarding the economic
activity, out of the total US$ 186,720 million GDP in
2007, 10% was provided through the agricultural
sector, 48% through the industrial sector, and 42%
through the service sector.
Climate Risk Situation
Current Climatic Conditions
The general characteristic features of the climate of
Malaysia are uniform temperature, high humidity
and copious rainfall. Seasonal variations in climate
are more evidently marked by rainfall patterns; the
north-eastern monsoon is dominant from November
to March, bringing moisture and more rain, and
between June and September, the south-western
monsoon winds blow. The seasonal variation of
rainfall in Peninsular Malaysia is of three main types
depending of the area: east coast states, southwest
coastal area and the rest of the Peninsula. The three
areas concur on having June and July as the driest
months, while there are more differences in the wet
months. October and November register high rainfall
for all areas; April and May also do with the exception
of the east coast states. The seasonal variation of
rainfall on the states located in Borneo (Sarawak
and Sabah), the high variations among their territory
make difficult to establish a common pattern. More
than 3550 mm of rainfall a year is recorded in the
Figure 51: Location map of Malaysia
(Undata, 2009)
lowlands. As for temperature distribution, although
the annual variation of the daily mean temperature
may be small (about 2°C to 3°C) the diurnal variation
may be as large as 12°C. Mean temperature in the
lowlands ranges between 26°C and 28°C (MMD,
2009).
Table 17 gives an overview on further natural
disaster statistics. The five top natural disasters in
Malaysia from 1980 to 2009 were all flood and storm
events. Floods were among the most severe in the
top 5, with 89% (see Figure 52), and when it comes
to all the events of climatic disasters occurring
between 1980 and 2009 (one drought, twenty nine
flood, six storms, one tsunami and four wild fires),
the flood are still the events that affected the highest
number of people (90% of all people affected, see
Figure 53), followed by storms with a 8%. Also
floods were causing the highest economic damage
followed by tsunami and wild fires (54%, 27% and
16% respectively, see Figure 54).
Climate Projections
Outputs generated by the AOGCMs, in the Scientific
Report elaborated by the MMD, show that all the
models projected an increase in temperature but
the degree of increase varies from model to model:
for Peninsular Malaysia is between 1.1°C and 3.6°C,
for Sabah and Sarawak between 1.0°C and 3.5°C.
The range of temperature increases at the end of
the 21st century over the 3 domains. An ensemble
mean of the entire nine AOGCM models indicate an
increasing temperature trend for the 3 domains of
2.8°C for Peninsular Malaysia, and 2.6ºC for Sabah
and Sarawak. As for the change in rainfall, there is
Figure 52: Percentage of people affected
due to top 5 natural disasters
1980-2009
Philippines •
Storm 11%
• Thailand
• Malaysia
Brunei Darussalam •
• Singapore
Flood 89%
Indonesia •
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