Newsletter Issue 56 (June 2025)

HK Meteorological Society Talk Series 2025 – GPS/Beidou/GNSS, Remote Sensing Satellites, and AI for Weather Forecasting

Date/Time: 25 July 2025, 14:30–15:30 Venue: Z Core, Hong Kong Polytechnic University Application via https://forms.gle/X4szP7UGFy2iK1Jz6

This will be followed by a 2-hour visit to (1) JC STEM Lab of Earth Observations, (2) Navigation Laboratory and (3) Experiencing a Time-Space Odyssey of Heritage by 21st Century Geo-spatial Technologies.

The Weather of May 2025 – A relatively dry and bright April

Mainly attributing to the stronger than usual subtropical ridge over southern China, the weather of May 2025 was drier than usual in Hong Kong. The total rainfall in the month was 81.6 millimetres, only about 28 percent of the normal of 290.6 millimetres. The accumulated rainfall recorded in the first five months of the year was 207.1 millimetres, about 35 percent of the normal of 590.9 millimetres for the same period. Moreover, the month was hotter than usual.

Global Seasonal Climate Update for July-August-September 2025

For the March–May 2025 average, ocean SST anomalies were generally above average, particularly in the oceans across the extratropical latitudes. A notable exception occurred in the equatorial central Pacific near the Dateline, where SST anomalies were closer to average. All Pacific Niño SST indices were near-average, with the exception of the Niño 1+2 index above the average. Despite these near-average values, oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the equatorial central and eastern Pacific showed some consistency with a weak La Niña.

State of the Climate in Asia 2024 published

– Asia is warming at twice the global average
– Sea surface temperature record high in 2024
– Marine heatwaves were worst on record
– Glacier melt accelerated
– Floods and droughts destroyed lives and livelihoods
– Early warnings and action save lives

Global climate predictions show temperatures expected to remain at or near record levels in coming 5 years

– 80% chance that at least one of the next five years will exceed 2024 as the warmest on record
– 86% chance that at least one of next five years will be more than 1.5°C above the 1850-1900 average
– 70% chance that 5-year average warming for 2025-2029 will be more than 1.5 °C
– Long-term warming (averaged over decades) remains below 1.5°C

May 2025 was 2nd-warmest on record for the globe

The May 2025 global surface temperature was 1.10°C higher than the 20th-century average. This was the second-warmest May since NOAA’s records began in 1850. Only May of 2024 was warmer, with a temperature 0.08°C higher than 2025. The May 2025 global surface temperature was 0.10°C higher than in 2020, which currently holds the third-warmest May on record. May 2020 notably marked the first time a May temperature reached 1.0°C above the 20th-century average. The ten warmest Mays on record have all occurred since 2014.

Three years left to limit warming to 1.5C, leading scientists warn

The Earth could be doomed to breach the symbolic 1.5C warming limit in as little as three years at current levels of carbon dioxide emissions. That’s the stark warning from more than 60 of the world’s leading climate scientists in the most up-to-date assessment of the state of global warming. Nearly 200 countries agreed to try to limit global temperature rises to 1.5C above levels of the late 1800s in a landmark agreement in 2015, with the aim of avoiding some of the worst impacts of climate change. But countries have continued to burn …

南海颱風立體協同觀測啟動 – 組團追“蝴蝶”

中國氣象局落實“觀測即服務”理念，針對“蝴蝶”開展風雲氣象衛星、北斗探空、天氣雷達等常規觀測和大型無人機等機動觀測聯合的協同觀測，並推動協同觀測資料、產品在預報服務中深度應用。颱風監測是一場“天地協同”的立體作戰。氣象部門充分發揮衛星、雷達、北斗探空、無人機等在氣象防災減災中的“瞭望哨”作用，搭建颱風綜合立體監測網，獲取“蝴蝶”盡可能豐富、精細的實況結果，準確刻畫“蝴蝶”立體結構，獲取影響“蝴蝶”發展演變的週邊動力場、熱力場資訊，為路徑預報和登陸後風雨影響預報提供有效支撐。

Current Trends of Greenhouse Gases

The graphs show monthly mean carbon dioxide globally averaged over marine surface sites. The Global Monitoring Laboratory has measured carbon dioxide and other gases (CH4, N2O, SF6) for several decades at a globally distributed network of air sampling sites [Conway, 1994]. The last year of data are still preliminary, pending recalibrations of reference gases and other quality control checks.

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