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'Winter could disappear'
11/06/2007 07:33 - (SA)
Hong Kong - Hong Kong's winter may become a thing of the past within 50 years because of global warming and urbanisation, weather experts warned on Saturday.
The director of the Hong Kong observatory, Lam Chiu-ying, said projections show there could be less than one cold day each winter toward the end of this century.
In Hong Kong cold days are defined as being those when temperatures fall below 12 degrees Celsius. Between 1961 and 1990 there were an average of 21 cold days a year, usually between December and March.
But Lam said the number of cold days was halved between 1990 and 2000 and over the past century temperatures in Hong Kong have risen by 1.2 degrees, almost double the global average.
Recent reports have suggested that milder winters have brought new varieties of birds, which used to spend the winter months further south.
A study released earlier this month showed summer temperatures in Hong Kong were rising by an average of 0.02 degrees Celsius per year, with warmer nights apparently accounting for much of the upward trend.
Professor Yan Yuk-yee, who wrote the report, said one reason for the temperature rise was concrete used in skyscrapers that absorbs heat in the day and releases it at night.
"We used to feel cooler in the evening when we came home after work. But now the first thing we do as soon as we return home is to turn on the air conditioners because it is still very hot," she said.
Yan said the result of the rising temperatures was that people were burning more electricity and contributing to global warming in what she called a vicious cycle. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA
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