Daily temperature in Singapore could rise by 4 degrees Celsius by 2100: study

Singapore last month experienced the driest month in 140 years, and a new climate study projects that the city state's average daily temperature could jump by more than four degrees Celsius by 2100.

According to Channel NewsAsia reports on Monday night, the new climate study, which was commissioned by Singapore's National Environment Agency (NEA), projects that the temperature in the country could rise by between 2.7 to 4.2 degrees Celsius from the current average of 26.8 degrees Celsius. And the sea level around the city state could increase by 24 to 65 centimeters by 2100.

Singapore's Minister for Environment and Water Resources Yaacob Ibrahim said in the Parliament that the findings, which are within the range of his ministry's expectations, are also consistent with global projections by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Singapore also has some measures in place to deal with the potential impacts of climate change, he said, adding that the NEA has also embarked on a second study to investigate in detail the impacts of climate change on public health, urban temperature and biodiversity.

February this year was the driest month in 140 years for Singapore, which had a rainfall of 6.3 millimeters in the month.

The NEA said that this February saw the hottest day so far this year when the mercury hit 35 degrees Celsius on Feb. 26.

Climate researcher in the country said that the city state may face dry and warm conditions for the next few months as the El Nino effect is expected to last till May this year.