Statistical Analysis of Temporal Variations in Patterns of Rainfall and Temperature in the Klang Valley

Abstract

Malaysia is in the equatorial zone and experiences hot and humid climates throughout the year. During the rainy season, floods may occur in some parts of Malaysia, including the Klang Valley. During the flood occurrences, the residents may need to leave their houses and move to relief shelters. This disaster may happen because of the continuous heavy downpour in the area. Both incidents can be connected to climate change, and one way to investigate this is to examine differences in daily rainfall and daily temperature patterns through time. Climate change is inevitable and one of the causes is known as 'anthropogenic' in which it is caused by human activities. Geological records can provide evidence of climate change. However, there has been little statistical research on climate change in the Klang Valley. Even official organisations like the Department of Irrigation and Drainage Malaysia (DID) and the National Water Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) have not conducted this area of study. The goal of this study is to evaluate climate change in the Klang Valley using statistical analysis of temporal rainfall patterns. The data collection and statistical analysis are two critical parts of this study. Rainfall and average temperature data were obtained from their respective departments and websites. These data were sorted and filtered accordingly to get a satisfactory value for the analysis. Then, the correlation test and analysis of variance were conducted to find the relation between these data points. The results of this analysis were used to determine whether the variations in rainfall patterns in the Klang Valley are caused by climate change or otherwise. In addition to this, the statistical outputs indicate that there is a statistically significant finding in both data sets in which the decreasing temperatures may result in increasing rainfall and warmer conditions may lessen the rainfall. Surprisingly, the findings contradicted the expected outcome of this study, and it is believed that external factors are the primary contributors to these findings.