How Singapore’s climate change can affect your holiday

The extreme weather conditions grow more and more every year in Singapore. In the last decennia the average temperature even increased twice as much in this little country compared to any other country. Growing a city instead of a rainforest does not help to control the heat. Besides that, it makes a good foundation for floods when it rains. Or should I say heavy showers. With all the concrete the water flows to the lower parts of the city. Not only the locals, but also the tourists suffer from some negative (side)effects.

Extreme and hot weather circumstances could lead to stress and discomfort, for example caused by hyperthermia and dehydration. Even if the weather is humid. Drinking water, water, water is the answer. In spite of the negative responses of the human body to high temperatures, it also attracts all sorts of other health issues.

One of them are the small mosquitoes that carry all sorts of diseases. The fact is, longer periods of hot weather attracts these buggers. When a mosquito infected with Dengue Fever stings a victim, typically during the day, one’s holiday will definitely be spoiled. It causes serious illness and no cure has been found yet. Please consult a professional regarding healthy and safety requirements before travelling to Singapore.

Rain floods

As exotic Singapore might be for tourists. In the period between July 2016 and January 2017, Singapore had to deal with 5 major floods. These cases do not include smaller floods, where people still can move around those street-pools. General floods do appear a lot in Singapore. It is a big issue. The reason for this is that the island is characterised withlow-lying areas combined with the consequences of global warming.

Some say it is an El Nino-effect: the land is situated in the pacific, two horizontal air streams come together and because of the rising temperature, the air lifts up into the atmosphere, which could lead to major rainfall with thunder. Without any seasonal events, this could be a daily affair, often in the afternoon or evening. Wet holidays, here we come.

Although there is seasonal rainfall too, which is easier to avoid as a tourist. It’s wise to stay away from the Northeast Monsoon often between the months December to early March. Also get out of the Southwest Monsoon that frequently appears from June to September. In any case, keep a weather eye on!

Waste of energy

Alright……so when it’s too hot during the day and too wet in the afternoon or evening, we could always look for shelter. Plenty of places to shop, museums to go to or other fun stuff to do. Singapore is obviously designed to entertain people. “No worries mate”, is what you probably think. However, there is a downside of escaping the weather and go to places with fake climates.

It costs a lot of energy to create an ideal climate, in order for shoppers and visitors to be able to wander off in their own little world. Taking this into account, experts warned that Singapore will be using twice as much energy by 2030 as it does today. It is a vicious cycle: climate change effect extreme weathers, people rather stay in, as a result more usage of energy to keep an ideal temperature inside buildings, which effects climate change.

This is the problem: in order to create or use energy from fossil fuels, toxic substances like carbodioxide are released into the atmosphere. These substances don’t reach space, but stay in the sky and form a layer that lets the earth warming rays from the through with a one-way policy: only in, not out.

The problem is that we need a certain level of outflow of energy to maintain a certain temperature. This is also known as the greenhouse effect (broeikasteffect). Consequently, the temperature on earth will increase and slowly but surely it’ll become warmer and warmer. For Singapore, this means more often extremely hot weather, with extreme storms.

What can I do, as a tourist?

“So, if I am cutting a little bit of energy, I can save the planet? Yeah right!!” Well, you might be wrong.Take Singapore for example. The government realised that it is a huge problem, since the country literally is dealing with the impacts of climate change. So campaigns are launched to make people aware of their own energy usage. One’s behaviour is part of a bigger group, with a greater result.

However, you don’t work and live in Singapore. So you aren’t in control of buying and using eco-friendly equipment, cars, etc. However, there are small things you can do during your stay in Singapore:

Use the fan instead of the air conditioner(aircon); if you have a fan in your hotel or stay.
Don’t use your aircon below 25 degrees.
Don’t use your aircon all the time; if the room is at the right temperature and you close the windows, it stays cool for a very long time.
Keep the windows and doors closed; see reason above. 😉
Blind the windows if the sun is shining; therefore the room will be cooler.
When you don’t use electricity, switch ofthe power point; whether you use it for a charger or lights.

And remember these are things you can also do at home, because with this topic the consequences of your actions are global.