Editorial | Be better prepared as the climate changes
- Hong Kong must accept that extreme weather is now the norm rather than the exception, and come up with ideas to safeguard our city and its residents
From heatwaves and downpours to floods and bushfires, Mother Nature has reminded us that extreme weather is becoming the norm rather than the exception.
While more concerted efforts have been made to ease global warming, authorities the world over are still from time to time caught unprepared for natural disasters fuelled by climate change. The damage from these mishaps could be dear.
Credit goes to a group of academics for putting the relevant issues into perspective.
According to their projection, extreme weather will become more common, with rainfall possibly hitting 230mm in an hour, 45 per cent more than the record of 158mm during Hong Kong’s worst rainstorm in September.
The number of hot nights would also increase by 50 per cent to 48 by 2040, according to findings by scholars from the Chinese University, University of Hong Kong and the University of Science and Technology
