Detecting climate change through rainfall pattern variation in taipei and colombo city

There are growing evidences indicating that climate change is one of the top issues facing the world today. Extreme climatic events such as typhoons, heavy storms and droughts are becoming more frequent and destructive. It is important to realize that climate change will affect the future rainfall pattern which is directly related to the water balance, hence leading to water related issues, consequently threatening local livelihoods. The historical rainfall data for Colombo City, Sri Lanka and Taipei City, Taiwan, are compared in this study. Results show that there is more pronounced rainfall variability in Taipei City than in Colombo City in the past. Strong evidences also indicate that the rainfall patterns of these two cities will be altered. There will be more extreme rainfall events in the future and the contribution from these extreme events is much higher. This study also notes the absence of more specific and dynamic early warning system for the climate change and highly recommends such system be established in both cities to improve climate forecasting and increased awareness to cope with future adverse water stresses.