The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) has warned that the city could experience record high temperatures this year and next due to climate change and predictions of a “super strong” El Niño event.
“According to the latest predictions from multiple climate models, sea temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific will continue to rise, turning into an El Niño event in summer and continuing at least until early next year,” wrote HKO science officers Tse Kwan-shu and Tse Wai-po. blog on monday.
Climate models also predict that the El Niño event could reach “super strong” intensity, they said.
“If this extreme forecast eventually materializes, it means it could break historical records and become the strongest El Niño event on record,” they warned.
“A strong El Niño will generally increase the chance of abnormally high temperatures in various parts of the world,” they added.
Under the combined impact of climate change and El Niño, “the average temperature in Hong Kong this year and next year will be significantly higher, and record high temperatures may occur.”
According to the HKO, El Niño is a natural climate phenomenon where sea surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific become unusually warm.
An El Niño event will bring “abnormally high temperatures” to many regions around the world, stronger typhoons and change seasonal rainfall patterns in some areas, resulting in rainfall that is either higher or lower than normal.
The observatory urged citizens to heed the hot weather warning issued by HKO and take measures to prevent heat stroke.
The boy died of suspected heatstroke
On Saturday, an 11-year-old boy died of suspected heat stroke, according to local media reported.
He vomited and lost consciousness after a training run at the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground. The boy was taken to hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Kowloon Motor Bus (KMB) announced that starting Wednesday, it will provide heat relief facilities, including hand fans and water, to elderly passengers at 10 bus terminals heavily used by the elderly, TVB reported on monday.
HKO has issued four “very hot weather warnings” this year, with the first released on May 26.
In early June, Friends of the Earth asked the government to prioritize the climate crisis and strengthen its climate adaptation policies, as the city is expected to endure an unusually hot summer this year.
The environmental NGO also called for the protection of vulnerable groups, including the elderly, children, people with chronic illnesses, low-income families, homeless people and those who work outside.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has warned that the intensity and frequency of heat waves have continued to increase since the 1950s due to human-induced climate change. The release of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide – which traps heat in the atmosphere – increases the planet’s surface temperature, with hotter and longer heatwaves that threaten lives.
See also: As extreme heat became the deadliest silent killer among the world’s weather disasters
Hong Kong has already warmed by 1.7 degrees Celsius since the Industrial Revolution, according to research NGO Berkeley Earth. says. Heat and humidity could reach deadly levels for long periods until the end of the century, according to a 2023 STUDYmaking it impossible to stay outside in some parts of the world.
