Newsletter Issue 25 (November 2022)

Annual General Meeting scheduled on 15 December 2022

he Annual General Meeting of the Hong Kong Meteorological Society will be held on 15 December 2022 in the Centenary Building of the Hong Kong Observatory. Save our date!

The Weather of October 2022 – A sunny and dry October

Mainly attributed to the stronger than normal subtropical ridge over southern China, October 2022 was sunnier than usual in Hong Kong. The duration of bright sunshine in the month was 241.0 hours, 43.2 hours above normal. The month was also drier than usual with a monthly rainfall of only 49.9 millimetres, about 41 percent of the normal of 120.3 millimetres.

Early Warnings for All Action Plan unveiled at COP27

It will cost the equivalent of just 50 cents per person per year for the next five years to reach everyone on Earth with early warnings against increasingly extreme and dangerous weather, according to the Executive Action Plan. “We must invest equally in adaptation and resilience. That includes the information that allows us to anticipate storms, heatwaves, floods and droughts. To that end, I have called for every person on Earth to be protected by early warning systems within five years, with the priority to support the most vulnerable first.”

Eight warmest years on record witness upsurge in climate change impacts
The past eight years are on track to be the eight warmest on record, fuelled by ever-rising greenhouse gas concentrations and accumulated heat, according to the WMO’s provisional State of the Global Climate in 2022 report. The tell-tale signs and impacts of climate change are becoming more dramatic. The rate of sea level rise has doubled since 1993. It has risen by nearly 10 mm since January 2020 to a new record high this year.

“Get serious about water,” eminent panel urges COP27
“There is no time to waste. Now is the time to get serious about water as an imperative for climate action.” according to a joint statement from an eminent panel of Water and Climate Leaders at COP27. As the atmosphere passes one degree of warming above pre-industrial levels, sea levels rise and the cryosphere melts, the effects of climate change are being felt as never before. Resultant flooding, heatwaves, droughts, storms and sea level rise worldwide will progressively worsen as warming continues towards 1.5 degrees and beyond.

COP27: Time to pay the climate bill – vulnerable nations

Leaders of countries flooded or parched due to climate change are pleading at the COP27 summit for an urgent financial lifeline from richer nations. “I’m not here to ask any of you to love the people of my country with the same passion as I do,” Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis told leaders. “I’m asking what is it worth to you to have millions of climate refugees to turn into tens of millions, putting pressure on political and economic systems around the world.”

We Are Less Than 3 Decades Away From Losing Every Glacier in Yosemite National Park, Europe’s Dolomite Mountains, and All of Africa

All of the glaciers in Yosemite National Park, Italy’s Dolomite mountains, the continent of Africa, and thousands of other individual ice giants are set to disappear over the next 30 years, according to a new report from the United Nations. Under each and every climate projection model that the researchers assessed, a full one-third of glaciers located within UNESCO World Heritage sites melt away by 2050—imperiling water resources, low lying regions, and cultural practices globally.

Copernicus: science in support of Europe’s renewable energy goals

Achieving a European economy fuelled by sustainable energy is no easy challenge. Renewable energy accounted for just over 22% of the EU’s gross final energy consumption in 2020. Amongst all the challenges, one in particular is related to the capacity to deal with and use climate information efficiently. Increasing the renewable share in the energy mix inevitably implies its dependency on climate variability at all levels. This is where the Copernicus services, and particularly the Copernicus Climate Change Service and the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, have a major supporting role to play.

首款“氣探”系列高空大型無人機首次亮相珠海航展

11月8日，第十四屆中國國際航空航太博覽會在廣東珠海隆重開幕。來自中國氣象局的“氣探Ⅱ型”高空大型無人機及機載氣象載荷首次亮相，標誌著我國氣象機動觀測進入高品質發展新階段。以高空大型無人機為主的航空器氣象觀測是空基觀測的重要組成部分，具備反應迅速、機動性強的特點，以及可在惡劣環境或人類難以到達的地方持續工作等優勢，並可與其他要素觀測手段結合形成高空至地面的三維立體觀測網路。

Membership renewal is now more convenient

Payment through Faster Payment System (FPS) is now available (Our FPS ID: 166920512). Support your society, don’t forget to renew your membership!