Hong Kong logs hottest day of 2024 following ‘exceptionally hot’ July
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong has recorded its hottest day of the year, with the Observatory logging a temperature of 35.4 degrees Celsius on Monday, following an “exceptionally hot” July.
In a statement issued on Monday afternoon, the government forecaster said that “temperatures over most parts of the territory rose to 35 degrees or above, and the maximum temperature recorded at the Observatory as 35.4 degrees, the highest so far this year.” In Sheung Shui, a town near the border with mainland China, the mercury reached 38.9 degrees.
According to a statement issued by the Hong Kong Observatory last Friday, July’s mean minimum temperature of 28 degrees Celsius, monthly mean temperature of 29.9 degrees, and mean maximum temperature of 32.4 degrees were all above monthly norms and among the highest ever recorded for July. A very hot weather warning remained in place for fourteen consecutive days after being issued on July 1.
The highest temperature recorded at the Hong Kong Observatory in Tsim Sha Tsui last month was 34.8 degrees on July 7, although temperatures exceeded 35 degrees elsewhere in the territory that day.
A total of 458.5 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in July, almost 20 per cent more than the monthly norm of 385.8 millimetres. However, rainfall for the first seven months of the year was about 10 per cent below average at 1,321.9 millimetres.
The Observatory issued six amber rainstorm alerts during July, warning of potential heavy rain and possible flooding.
2024 forecast to be among hottest years
The Observatory has forecast that 2024 will be one of the hottest years Hong Kong has ever seen as extreme heat intensifies.
“With five out of the six months warmer than usual, the first half of 2024 was abnormally warm,” the Observatory said last month. The mean minimum temperature of 21.4 degrees Celsius, mean temperature of 23.3 degrees and mean maximum temperature of 25.8 degrees were respectively the highest, one of the highest, and the second highest since records began in 1884.
Mainland China has been subject to several fatal extreme weather events this summer. On Saturday, a landslide in Sichuan province claimed the lived of 8, with at least 19 missing as of Sunday.
Beijing last Thursday said that July had been China’s hottest month since records began.
Children, elderly residents, people experiencing homelessness, and outdoor workers are among those most at risk from rising temperatures. In Hong Kong, a non-binding system introduced last year to reduce workers’ risk of suffering from heat stress has been largely criticised as ineffective by those it is supposed to protect.
Street cleaners, construction workers and food delivery workers have told HKFP that they have all suffered symptoms of heat stroke while at work.
See also: 3 outdoor workers on how Hong Kong’s extreme heat and humidity take their toll
In Hong Kong, the temperature alone does not give the full picture of the heat stress outdoor workers’ bodies are placed under, which is exacerbated by the humidity.
High humidity changes the way that sweat, the body’s natural cooling mechanism, evaporates and inhibits the body’s ability to regulate its temperature. Not being able to cool down can put people’s health at severe risk, and can lead to heart and respiratory problems, dehydration, heatstroke, high blood pressure, and sleep deprivation.
In 2021, Hong Kong pledged to cut total carbon emissions by 26 to 36 per cent from 2005 levels by 2030 and to become carbon-neutral by 2050. In 2022, non-government organisation CarbonCare InnoLab released its annual Hong Kong Climate Action Report and said “little or no progress has been made towards carbon neutrality” in the city.
In the years since, environmental experts have called on the city to implement more progressive and proactive environmental policies to address the climate crisis, including conserving the natural environment and speeding up the transition to green energy.
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