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| Singapore Hit By Worst Dry Spell in 29 Years | |
| Singapore is suffering its worst dry spell in 29 years, sparking rare bush fires in the densely populated Southeast Asian island and cranking the country's ubiquitous air conditioners into overdrive. | |
| Singapore, just 140 km (85 miles)
north of the equator, usually sees relatively dry weather in February as
Southeast Asia's northeast monsoon season shifts south. But February this
year is the driest since 1976, the government said on Monday.
Fire fighters have fought 388 bush fires since Jan. 1. That compares with 355 for all of 2003 and 500 last year, Singapore's Civil Defence Force said. The biggest engulfed vacant land the size of about 15 soccer fields on Feb. 17. The National Environment Agency said temperatures have reached a high of 34 degrees Celsius (93.2 degrees Fahrenheit) almost daily since Jan. 20., with Feb 9 -- the first day of the Lunar New Year -- hitting 35.5 degrees Celsius (95.9 degrees Fahrenheit), the hottest day in 15 years. Most of Singapore received less than 1 mm (0.04 inch) of rainfall in the first two weeks of February. The weather has forced many residents to seek the cool of air conditioners in a country once dubbed "The air conditioned nation" by academic Cherian George, while inflicting a blow to wildlife in the tropical city-state of 4.2 million people. "About five percent of our plants have died because of the heat," said Lilian Koh, executive director of Hawaii Landscape, a nursery spread over about six acres (two hectares). "Our water and utility bills have gone up significantly because we now have to use tap water to water the plants instead of drawing water from the drain," she said. The National Environment Agency said the current dry spell, which runs usually once every five years, should ease by the end of February. The longest dry spell, which hit Singapore in the same period in 1976, lasted 35 days. |
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