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Published on September 3, 2007

Traiphob Sae Yang, headman of Doi Pui Village in Chiang Mai, said he and other villagers recorded an increase in the rainy season temperature to 35 degrees Celsius. Last August, the highest midday temperature was recorded at around 25 degrees Celsius while this year the villagers noted the mercury rose by 5 degrees Celsius on the hottest day a few weeks ago.

"We felt something wrong about our temperature, so we put thermometers in front of our houses to measure the mercury and we caught it rising alarmingly," Traiphob said.

However, Chiang Mai University geographer Chakrit Choteamonsak noted that the five degrees difference between the same month this year and last year seemed to be too high. He cautioned against attributing the rising mercury to global warming.

"There are many climatic factors that influence temperature changes," Chakrit said. "For example, forest fires and farm burnings put Chiang Mai under months of smoke pollution earlier this year. That might have affected the temperature as well. We should not jump to conclusions." Traiphob said global temperatures had risen by 0.6 degrees Celsius every year, and that had resulted in melting ice in the temperate hemisphere.

"What's missing are studies to find out what this means to our region. I'm waiting for funding from Thailand Research Fund to study the scenario of changing temperatures in Thailand."

Kwandao Chitrpana

The Nation,

Chiang Mai