Climate change has significantly increased human thermal stress, particularly in tropical regions, exacerbating associated risks and consequences, such as heat-related illnesses, decreased workability, and economic losses. Understanding the changes in human thermal stress and its drivers is crucial to identify adaptation measures. This study aims to assess various meteorological variables’ spatial and seasonal impact on Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT), an indicator of human thermal stress, in Peninsular Malaysia. The Liljegren method is used to estimate WBGT using ERA5 hourly data from 1959 to the present. The trends in WBGT and its influencing factors are evaluated using a modified Mann-Kendall test to determine the region’s primary driver of WBGT change. The results indicate that air temperature influences WBGT the most, accounting for nearly 60% of the variation. Solar radiation contributes between 20% and 30% in different seasons. Relative humidity, zenith, and wind speed have relatively lesser impacts, ranging from −5% to 20%. Air temperature has the highest influence in the northern areas (>60%) and the lowest in the coastal regions (40%). On the other hand, solar radiation has the highest influence in the southern areas (20–40%) and the least in the north. The study also reveals a significant annual increase in temperature across all seasons, ranging from 0.06 to 0.24 °C. This rapid temperature rise in the study area region has led to a substantial increase in WBGT. The higher increase in WBGT occurred in the coastal regions, particularly densely populated western coastal regions, indicating potential implications for public health. These findings provide valuable insights into the factors driving WBGT and emphasize the importance of considering air temperature as a key variable when assessing heat stress.

In most practical cases, density-driven currents flow over surfaces that are not smooth; however, the effects of bottom roughness on these currents have not been fully understood yet. Hence, this study aims to examine the velocity structure of density currents while propagating over rough beds. To this end, alterations in the vertical velocity profiles within the body of these currents were investigated in the presence of different bottom roughness configurations. Initially, laboratory experiments were carried out for density currents flowing over a smooth surface to provide a baseline for comparison. Thereafter, seven bottom roughness configurations were tested, encompassing both dense and sparse bottom roughness. The bottom roughness consisted of repeated arrays of square cross-section beams covering the full channel width and perpendicular to the flow direction. The primary results indicate that the bottom roughness decelerated the currents and modified the shape of velocity profiles, particularly in the region close to the bed. Additionally, a critical spacing of the roughness elements was detected for which the currents demonstrated the lowest velocities. For the spacings above the critical value, increasing the distance between the roughness elements had little impact on controlling the velocity of these currents. Moreover, using dimensional analysis, equations were developed for estimating the mean velocities of the currents flowing over various configurations of the bottom roughness. The findings of this research could contribute towards better parameterization and improved knowledge of density currents flowing over rough beds. This can lead to a better prediction of the evolution of these currents in many practical cases as well as improved planning and design measures for the control of such currents.

Braided alluvial rivers with a mid-bar are common features occurred in alluvial river that consists of bifurcation and confluence channels. The formation of the mid-bar will affect the hydraulics of river systems in terms of velocity and bed morphology. The studies corresponding to the typical braided river with a mid-bar are still ongoing. This paper is to present the finding of depth-averaged velocity, U_d and bed profile at the bifurcation and confluence channel. A channel with a mid-bar and erodible bed was used in this research. The experimental work was carried out in the Hydraulic Laboratory at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, (UTM). In the experiment, two types of flow which are low flow and high flow rates were considered. The study found that depth-averaged velocity distributions are influenced by flow discharge and varied at the braided channel. The highest U_d velocity is 0.35 m/s occurred at the bifurcation area and the lowest U_d is 0.2 m/s that was occurred at the confluence area. This genesis to more erosion occurred at the bifurcation area compared to the confluence area.

The relative impacts of changes in the storage capacity of a reservoir are strongly influenced by its hydrodynamics. This study focused mainly on predicting the flow velocities and assessing the effectiveness of groynes as control mitigation structures in changes in the water depth and velocity distributions in Ringlet Reservoir. Initially, the physical model of the Habu River (the main part of Ringlet Reservoir) was fabricated, and flow velocities were measured. Then, a two-dimensional HEC-RAS was adapted to numerically simulate the hydrodynamics of the annual recurrence intervals of 1, 5, and 100 years in the Ringlet Reservoir. Experimental data acquired at the Hydraulic and Instrumentation Laboratory of the National Water Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM) was used to calibrate and validate the numerical models. The comparison of simulation and experimental results revealed that the water levels in all simulations were consistent. As for the velocity, the results show a comparable trend but with a slight variation of results compared to the experiments due to a few restrictions found in both simulations. These simulation results are deemed significant in predicting future sediment transport control based on hydrodynamics in this reservoir and can be of future reference.