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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences
Responding To Extremes: Managing Urban Water Scarcity In The Late Nineteenth-Century Straits Settlements, Fiona Williamson
Responding To Extremes: Managing Urban Water Scarcity In The Late Nineteenth-Century Straits Settlements, Fiona Williamson
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
In 1877, the major towns of the Straits Settlements - Singapore, George Town, Penang Island and Malacca - suffered a drought of exceptional magnitude. The drought’s natural instigator was the El Niño phase of the El Niño Southern Oscillation (ENSO), a climatic phenomenon then not understood by contemporary observers. The 1877 event has been explored in some depth for countries including India, China and Australia. Its impact on Southeast Asia however is less well-known and the story of how the event unfolded in Singapore and Malaysia has not been told. This paper explores how the contemporary British government responded to …
Trans-Boundary Variations Of Urban Drought Vulnerability And Its Impact On Water Resource Management In Singapore And Johor, Malaysia, Joon Chuah, Beatrice H. Ho, Winston T. L. Chow
Trans-Boundary Variations Of Urban Drought Vulnerability And Its Impact On Water Resource Management In Singapore And Johor, Malaysia, Joon Chuah, Beatrice H. Ho, Winston T. L. Chow
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Low-latitude areas generally experience relatively large precipitation totals, but droughts/dry spells do occur periodically and are potentially hazardous in these regions - especially within rapidly developing urban settlements. These areas typically have high water demand and therefore may potentially be subjected to water scarcity. Effective local water resource management lowering risks and vulnerabilities to drought is thus paramount, and these policies may be affected in regions with national borders sharing a common transboundary water resource. In this study, we (a) quantify and identify drought episodes using the Palmer Drought Severity Index in the neighbouring equatorial regions of Singapore and Johor, …
The Impact Of Weather Extremes On Urban Resilience To Hydro-Climate Hazards: A Singapore Case Study, Winston T. L. Chow
The Impact Of Weather Extremes On Urban Resilience To Hydro-Climate Hazards: A Singapore Case Study, Winston T. L. Chow
Research Collection School of Social Sciences
Changing frequencies and intensities of extreme weather events directly affect settlement vulnerability; when combined with rapid urbanization, these factors also influence urban resilience to climate-related hazards. This article documents how urban resilience can generally be maximized, before examining how it is impacted by extreme hydro-climatic events (i.e. droughts and floods), with a specific case examination for Singapore. In particular, analysis of Singapore’s climate from 1950 to 2015 indicates (1) a warmer environment, and (2) recent periods of more intense surface dryness. Lastly, this article suggests how specific climate information regarding extreme event attribution can aid municipal stakeholders involved in urban …