‘It's all gone': Beijing villagers left with nothing after deadly floods
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South China Morning Post
6 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
4 black rain days in a week show Hong Kong's climate fight urgency
The past week has seen four incidences of black rain . On Tuesday, two separate warnings were issued before 9am, so parents were all working from home as kindergarten and holiday activities were cancelled, leaving the city much quieter than usual. This quiet prompted me to ask three questions. Is this the usual bad weather or driven by climate change ? If it is long-term change, what are the impacts and costs? And what are we doing about it? According to the Hong Kong Observatory, annual rainfall is increasing slowly but occurring in much more intense periods . Black rainstorms are more frequent and intense, meaning more intense run-off. The most recent black rain warning was the second-longest on record, with the longest coming in 2023 . Meanwhile, typhoons have increased noticeably in strength. Why is this? There is a general agreement that the Earth's climate is changing because of a combination of natural and human factors, including variation in sunlight, Earth's orbital changes and volcanic activity. However, natural effects have been overshadowed by the increasing atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases from human activity since the Industrial Revolution The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has produced six assessment reports since 1990. As the science becomes clearer, each report is more certain, urgent and strident than the last. Human-induced climate change has become a major challenge of our time, and now it is on the streets of Hong Kong. The Observatory has recorded sea surface temperatures increasing at 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade since 1975. Air temperatures are increasing, too, at a rate of 0.37 degrees per decade since 1995, a rate more than twice as fast as the trend from 1885 to 2024.
South China Morning Post
16 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong urged to clarify ‘extreme conditions' criteria after record rainfall
The Hong Kong government is under mounting pressure to clarify circumstances that warrant an 'extreme conditions' announcement to prevent residents from commuting to work during hazardous weather, a day after record-breaking downpours wreaked havoc across the city. Advertisement Some lawmakers and labour union leaders called for further clarification on Wednesday after some residents expressed confusion as to whether they should have headed to work during the torrential downpours. The highest-level black rainstorm warning was in effect for more than 11 hours on Tuesday, as the poor weather triggered flash floods and landslides. The government said the declaration of 'extreme conditions' would be considered when a natural disaster brought about extreme and widespread impacts. It gave the examples of large-scale power outages, widespread flooding, severe landslides and serious disruption to public transport services. 'The government will consider making an 'extreme conditions' announcement based on the actual conditions and those affecting the effective resumption of work by residents, the extent and scale of the disruption,' a government spokesman said on Wednesday. Advertisement '[This is] to allow general employees to remain in safe places after the cancellation of the No 8 tropical cyclone warning signal or the black rainstorm warning signal, rather than immediately returning to workplaces.'
South China Morning Post
17 hours ago
- South China Morning Post
2025 black rainstorm may be among Hong Kong's costliest natural disasters for insurance
This week's record-breaking deluge may rank among Hong Kong's costliest natural disasters for insurers, as the owners of cars and properties started to submit claims for damages caused by 11 hours of the highest category of rainstorm. Advertisement The payouts may top the damages caused by last month's Typhoon Wipha , but will be less than the HK$1.54 billion (US$196.2 million) havoc wrought by the last black rainstorm in September 2023, thanks to the mitigating measures taken by the government and business owners, said Zurich Insurance's Greater China CEO, Eric Hui. 'We received many claims from car owners due to flooding,' Hui said. 'There are also claims from homeowners who suffered losses from the heavy rain.' Hong Kong received 358.8mm (14 inches) of rainfall on Tuesday, the heaviest precipitation in August since the Hong Kong Observatory began keeping records in 1884. The most severe category of rainstorm warning was in place for 11 hours, second only to the one issued on September 7, 2023, which lasted for 16 hours and 35 minutes. Bride's Pool Road connecting Tai Po with the New Territories was damaged by a landslide during the black rainstorm on August 5, 2025. Photo: Handout The downpours triggered 29 floods that were categorised as 'significant' and caused 15 landslides in areas such as Tseung Kwan O, Central, the Western District, and Tai Po, with floodwater-submerged vehicles and damage to shops and property across the city.
