INTHEBLACK April 2025 - Magazine - Page 38
F E AT U R E
Sandbags are stacked at
the entrance of a store in
Hong Kong as Typhoon
Saola approaches on
1 September 2023.
HONG KONG
A densely populated city-state surrounded
by sea water, Hong Kong experienced its
warmest year on record in 2024.
The Hong Kong Observatory recorded
an annual mean temperature of 24.8 degrees,
which was 1.3 degrees above the 1991–2020
climatological normal.
Heavy rain is far from unusual in
Hong Kong, especially during the summer
months. However, recent weather patterns
have caused concern, with two consecutive
typhoons — Typhoon Saola and Typhoon
Haikui — sweeping across the region within
less than two weeks in September 2023.
Record-breaking rainfall brought much
of the city to a halt, with flash flooding
submerging metro stations and causing
widescale business disruption.
A 2018 sea-level study also warned that
Hong Kong’s sea level is set to rise anywhere
between 0.63-1.07 metres by the end
of the current century.
Felix Leung, head of social and climate
action at The Chinese University of Hong
Kong’s Jockey Club Museum of Climate
Change, says weather patterns are changing.
“Typhoons are not new for Hong Kong,
but the intensity is getting stronger,
and they are becoming more frequent
and more difficult to predict. In 2024,
38 INTHEBLACK April 2025
we had three typhoons close to Hong Kong,
two to three days apart.
“People who live in low-lying areas near
the northwest of Hong Kong will experience
flooding more frequently.”
Leung notes that rising temperatures
in Hong Kong are accompanied by a higher
concentration of ozone, which is associated
with health issues such as respiratory disease.
A record-breaking drought in 2022 in
China caused some rivers, including parts
of the Yangtze, to dry up, halting shipping
and forcing major companies to suspend
operations, Leung adds.
“That is just one example of how climate
change can impact businesses,” he says.
SINGAPORE
A low-lying island state of 734.3km2,
Singapore’s urban density, limited land area
and low wind speeds present challenges
in pursuing alternative energy options.
Singapore’s Third National Climate Change
Study, published by the Centre for Climate
Research Singapore, notes that the city-state’s
annual mean temperature has increased by
0.24°C per decade in the past 40 years.
Winston Chow, professor of urban climate
at Singapore Management University
and co-chair of the United Nations’
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
