By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
The weather agency said Wednesday that it will no longer release a rainy season forecast from this year, citing difficulties in predicting downpours due to global climate change.
The Korea Metrological Administration has made the forecast since late May 1961.
``In recent years, torrential rains have frequently poured down before and after the rainy season we forecast. We believe that's because of climate change. Given this, continuing to forecast the rainy season period has become meaningless,'' a weather agency official said.
According to statistics, the average precipitation during the rainy season in the 1980s was 30 percent higher than at other times ― the discrepancy narrowed by 1 percent in the 1990s.
Experts said weather patterns around the Korean peninsula in summer have changed due to various new variables related to global warming.
For holidaymakers, the forecast has been key information in planning summer vacations. The weather agency will enhance its short- and mid-term weather forecasts to offset any inconveniences caused by the discontinuation.
``It's to cope with unpredictably changing weather patterns,'' the spokesman said. ``If any factor hinting at bad weather emerges, we will frequently update relevant information and publicize it through various channels.''