Don't allow your child to play outside during lightning

Do you know your children's whereabouts this school holidays? What activities will they be involved in?

Whatever their activities will be, be cautious when allowing your kids to play outside, especially during this rainy season.

A recent study in the United States recently discovered that global warming has an effect on the frequency of lightning strikes.

Led by David Romps, a climate researcher from the University of California in Berkeley, the study revealed that even with warming of a few degrees Celsius, very large climate impacts could occur.

The study showed that two factors – precipitation and instability – could account for 77 per cent of the variability in lightning flashes in the US.

The study used 11 climate change models – high-powered simulations run on super-computers that attempt to inscribe the behavior of the atmosphere in physical equations – to track how future changes in these parameters would increase lightning.

The result was a 12 percent increase in lightning per degree Celsius of global warming, and thus, a 50 percent increase over the 21st century - if current projections of global warming hold.

Closer to home, local lightning expert, Hartono Zainal Abidin said Malaysia is already experiencing a lot of lightning because we have regular thunderstorms.

He said, Romps’ study is based on a simulation model and it is generally known that more heat leads to more moisture, more thunderstorms and more lightning.

“However, Malaysia has not seen the effect of global warming on lightning strikes.

“The researchers don’t actually observe thunderstorms. But there may be a possibility of it happening here. We just have to take the wait-and-see approach,” he told Astro AWANI, recently.

Hartono said Malaysia experiences an average of 180 to 200 thunderstorm days (per year) compared to western regions.

“In places like Florida (US), they only have 80 to 100 thunderstorm days per year. In London, they only have 10 to 20 thunderstorm days.

“As for Malaysia, we are in the top 10 thunderstorm occurrence in the world. And because we are at the end of intermonsoon and at the beginning of the northeast monsoon where there will an increase of wind and storm, we have to be extra careful,” he said.

According to the Malaysia Meteorological Department (MMD), the northeast monsoon season usually commences in early November and ends in March and during this season, steady easterly or northeasterly winds of 10 to 20 knots prevail.

MMD also noted that during the two intermonsoon seasons, the winds are generally light and variable. During these seasons, the equatorial trough lies over Malaysia.

Hartono also said Malaysians cannot drop their guard in lightning safety, especially during the school holiday season.

A multi-party effort is needed to create awareness about lightning for school children and protecting them from lightning strikes, he said.

“Parents should be aware of what their children are doing during thunderstorms. Don’t allow your children to be outside during thunderstorms. Explain to them why it is dangerous to be outside during thunderstorms.

“The awareness should come from the school level itself and move up to the ministry level or even the MMD.

“For instance, the simplest thing they can do is to conduct a lightning safety programme in schools and government departments and distribute posters on lightning safety tips to schools,” said Hartono.