Newsletter Issue 39 (January 2024)

The year’s weather – second warmest year on record for Hong Kong

The year’s weather – second warmest year on record for Hong Kong In Hong Kong, with all twelve months warmer than usual, 2023 was one of the second warmest years on record with the annual mean temperature reaching 24.5 degrees, 1.0 degree above the 1991-2020 normal. There were 54 Very Hot Days, 56 Hot Nights and 4 Extremely Hot Days in Hong Kong in 2023, respectively ranking one of the highest, the second highest and one of the fifth highest on record.

The weather of December 2023 – a mild and dry December

With the northeast monsoon over the south China coast much weaker than normal, the weather of Hong Kong was exceptionally warm in the first half of December. While Hong Kong was affected by an intense winter monsoon in the second half of the month, December 2023 was still overall warmer than usual in Hong Kong. With abundant sunshine, the temperature at the Observatory rose to 28.7 degrees on 12 December, one of the highest maximum temperature on record for December.

WMO confirms that 2023 smashes global temperature record

WMO confirms that 2023 smashes global temperature record The WMO has officially confirmed that 2023 is the warmest year on record, by a huge margin. Six leading international datasets used for monitoring global temperatures and consolidated by WMO show that the annual average global temperature was 1.45 ± 0.12 °C above pre-industrial levels (1850-1900) in 2023. Global temperatures in every month between June and December set new monthly records. July and August were the two hottest months on record..

WMO issues new guidelines on evaluation of weather and climate extremes

WMO has taken over responsibility for hosting the official Archive of Weather and Climate Extremes – the equivalent of the Guinness Book of records on heat, rainfall, wind, lightning and many other phenomena. It is a living source of information for understanding climate variability and change and climate change detection and attribution and for construction, energy, industrial and other applications. New guidelines on the evaluation of new records have also been issued.

We’ve ‘lost’ 19 years in the battle against global warming since the Paris Agreement

When the Paris Agreement was signed, in December 2015, the world was projected to reach the 1.5°C threshold by March 2045. Today, on the 8th anniversary of its signature, we risk breaching that benchmark by February 2034, according to data extrapolation based on Copernicus Climate Change Service data. But many other indicators have turned red since the Paris Agreement. Time is shrinking if we want to keep the global temperatures below 1.5°C compared with the pre-industrial average.

2023年氣候變化綠皮書發佈

2023年氣候變化綠皮書是中國社會科學院和中國氣象局專家聯手國內氣候變化領域一線學者編撰的權威性年度出版物，對推進我國生態文明建設、綠色低碳轉型和參與全球氣候治理作出了重要貢獻，在國內外產生了積極而廣泛的影響。氣候變化綠皮書聚焦積極穩妥推進碳達峰碳中和，深入分析國際國內應對氣候變化面臨的新形勢，從不同側面展現了我國積極穩妥推進碳達峰碳中和工作的政策和行動。

Celeste Saulo of Argentina takes office as Secretary-General of WMO

Prof. Celeste Saulo of Argentina has taken office as the first female and first South American Secretary-General of the WMO. She will spearhead the activities of the WMO community to transform science into the best possible services for society. This includes strengthening observations and data exchange necessary for reliable and accessible weather forecasts, benefiting from massive advances in artificial intelligence, and expanding Early Warning Services to protect everyone on Earth.

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