Latest news with #extreme weather
South China Morning Post
a day ago
- Climate
- South China Morning Post
Hong Kong leader vows to ‘consider all things' for future extreme weather prep
Hong Kong's leader has pledged to 'take all things into consideration' for future extreme weather preparations after parents criticised last week's decision to suspend day schools over concerns about a rainstorm that subsided quicker than expected. Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu on Tuesday defended the decision by Eric Chan Kwok-ki, the city's No 2 official and chair of the steering committee on handling extreme weather, and said such preparatory actions were 'absolutely correct'. Last Thursday, the committee decided to suspend all day schools for the following day as some forecasts warned the city faced its 'fifth-largest daily rainfall' on record amid the impact of storm Danas. In the past, such announcements were typically made on the morning of the suspension. But the weather on Friday morning was calm, with limited rainfall, prompting backlash from parents who said the suspension had forced their children to miss out on their graduation ceremonies and other school events. '[We] heard different opinions from the society concerning the steering committee's decision on suspending classes,' Lee told reporters ahead of his weekly Executive Council meeting on Tuesday.
CTV News
a day ago
- Climate
- CTV News
Lightning and disaster fatigue: Wildfires have Princeton residents on edge
In Princeton, B.C., three fires burning near the town are causing heightened anxiety in a community that has seen its share of extreme weather events in recent
Mail & Guardian
2 days ago
- Science
- Mail & Guardian
People back climate policy when weather events feel personal, new study finds
The effects of extreme weather events are disproportionately felt in countries in the Global South. Most people are more likely to support A few extreme weather events also seem to influence support for climate policies in different ways, according to the team of authors, which included Marina Joubert, an associate professor at the Centre for Research on Evaluation, Science and Technology at Stellenbosch University. The Nature Climate Change , found that although extreme weather events are becoming more frequent and intense because of climate change, little is known about how experiencing these events — and attributing them to climate change — affects support for climate policies, particularly in the Global South. The effects of extreme weather events are disproportionately felt in countries in the Global South. 'Even though the The study shows that when people connect extreme weather such as heatwaves, floods and droughts to climate change, they're much more likely to support climate action, Joubert said. 'This matters for countries like South Africa where climate impacts are already being felt. One surprising finding from our study is that people in Africa, especially in South Africa, are less likely to say that climate change is behind extreme weather events,' she said. 'That's not because the weather is not changing, but because climate change awareness is still low.' To build support for climate solutions, there is an urgent need for better public communication that explains to people what is happening and why, Joubert said. The researchers assessed support for the following five climate policies: increasing taxes on carbon-intense foods, raising taxes on fossil fuels, expanding infrastructure for public transportation, increasing the use of sustainable energy, and protecting forested and land areas. They used combined large-scale natural and social science data from 68 countries to develop a measure of how many people were exposed to extreme weather events — and to explore whether this exposure, along with people's beliefs about whether climate change has affected extreme weather events over the last decades, predict their support for climate policies. They also comparatively assessed the link between the size of exposed populations, defined as the average annual proportion of a country's total population exposed to a specific weather-related hazard, to several extreme weather events and support for climate policies. They found that in line with previous research, increasing carbon taxes received the lowest support, with only 22% and 29% of people, respectively, indicating they very much supported increased taxes on carbon-intensive foods and fossil fuels. Protecting forested and land areas, by contrast, was a popular policy option, with 82% supporting it very much and only 3% not supporting it at all. The second-most supported policy was increasing the use of sustainable energy, with 75% supporting it very much, and only 5% not supporting it at all. The research showed that not all climate policies are equally popular, revealing that people around the world, including in Africa, are far more supportive of clean energy and forest protection than carbon taxes. 'That's an important message for governments. If you want public buy-in, you have to focus on solutions that people understand and support,' Joubert said. The study provides global evidence that subjective attribution of extreme weather events to climate change is associated with greater policy support for climate mitigation, the researchers said. 'Overall, different extreme weather events appear to have different relationships with climate policy support. This pattern highlights the importance of comparative analyses that consider different types of events,' the study said. 'In line with previous studies we also found that subjective attribution interacts with exposure to European winter storms, heatwaves, heavy precipitation and tropical cyclones to predict climate policy support.' Mere exposure to extreme weather events might therefore not suffice to increase policy support unless individuals link these events to climate change. While larger exposure to extreme events was not found to be related to policy support, except for wildfires, the researchers could not rule out that changes in the frequency of extreme weather events over time might be sufficient to shift support. 'Nevertheless, our data suggest that if individuals attribute extreme weather events to climate change, support for climate policies is higher regardless of whether the events are more frequent.' The reverse causal relationship is also possible: people who are supportive of climate policies are more likely to attribute extreme weather to climate change, the study said, noting that longitudinal panel studies are needed to investigate the nature and direction of this relationship. The research also found strong differences in support across countries and policies. Support for climate policies was particularly high in African and Asian countries, average in Australia, Costa Rica and the United Kingdom, and below the global average in several European countries, such as Czechia, Finland and Norway. 'Participants who identified as men, were younger, more religious, had higher education, higher income, left-leaning politics and who lived in urban areas were more likely to support climate policies,' the report said. For some events, such as heatwaves and tropical cyclones, the effects of exposure on climate policy support were stronger for individuals who attribute extreme weather events to climate change more strongly. 'One possible explanation is that these types of extreme weather events allow for management strategies that can directly reduce the hazard itself, such as man-made flood protections, irrigation systems, prescribed burn-offs and land-use policies. 'Therefore, people may be more likely to support policies pertaining to law enforcement or economic regulations instead of climate change mitigation.' The researchers however pointed out that exposure to most types of extreme events did not predict people's support for climate policies. The extent to which people attributed extreme weather events to climate change varied across regions of the world. People in South America most strongly agreed that the occurrence of extreme weather events has been affected by climate change over the last decades, especially in Brazil and Colombia. This might be explained by the fact that belief in human-caused climate change and self-reported personal experience of extreme weather events are high in Latin America. People in Northern Europe and Africa, on the other hand, were less likely to attribute extreme weather events to climate change. In Africa, this could be explained by low levels of climate change awareness and belief in human-caused climate change across the continent. The researchers called for more studies about effective climate change communication on types of extreme weather events that are not typically associated with climate.
South China Morning Post
5 days ago
- Climate
- South China Morning Post
Day school suspension amid limited rainfall leaves Hong Kong parents furious
Parents in Hong Kong have questioned the 'scientific basis' of the government's decision to suspend classes at all day schools on Friday, with some arguing their children's graduation ceremonies were cancelled despite little rainfall in the morning. In a WhatsApp group with more than 1,000 parents, furious comments started flooding in at around 7.30am to complain about the decision. 'There is not a drop of rain. Due to class suspension, I still have to take special leave to take care of my children,' a parent, who was only identified as HT, said. 'No rain in the morning! I am so angry. My children study in private schools; it costs me every day. I can hardly understand why the government could not decide to suspend classes in the morning like in the past, but a day earlier,' another parent replied. Their angry comments followed an announcement on Thursday by the steering committee on handling extreme weather, which is led by Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, the city's No 2 official. 'To ensure the safety of students, and considering that schools across Hong Kong may have already started their summer vacation and the actual impact of class suspension on students' learning and teaching is relatively small, the Education Bureau announces that classes of all day schools, including secondary schools, primary schools, special schools, kindergartens, and kindergartens-cum-child care centres, will be suspended [on Friday],' the committee said in the press release that day.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
June heat and thunderstorms spell tough month for high street
Shoppers stayed away from their local stores in June due to extreme weather that had them avoiding high temperatures and severe thunderstorms, figures show. Total UK footfall fell by 1.8% year-on-year in June, a dip from May's 1.7% decline, according to British Retail Consortium (BRC)-Sensormatic data. The high street was particularly affected by the uncomfortable weather, suffering a 3% drop in shopper numbers on last June. Even retail park and shopping centre footfall decreased, by 1.1% and 1.6% respectively. Footfall decreased year-on-year across all nations, down 1.4% in England, 3% in Scotland, 3.3% in Wales, and the largest decrease of 5.2% in Northern Ireland. However, there were more encouraging signs in some parts of the UK, with Manchester and Birmingham recording positive footfall for the third consecutive month due to popular new shops opening and major concerts drawing in crowds. BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said: 'Extreme weather meant shoppers stayed away from their local stores last month, leading to a decline in footfall across all three key retail locations. 'High streets were particularly affected as extreme heat was followed by severe thunderstorms, discouraging visits.' Ms Dickinson added: 'Subdued consumer sentiment means shoppers remain cautious, making it increasingly difficult for retailers to generate strong footfall into their stores. 'The Government formed a year ago promising to reinvigorate our high streets. However, footfall remains negative, with retailers struggling to invest more in local stores due to the rising costs from the last Budget. This is compounded by an outdated, broken business rates system in urgent need of reform. 'While we welcome Government's plans to reform rates, it is essential that the changes leave no shop paying more. In doing so, the Government can ease the pressure on high streets, enabling greater investment in our towns and cities, something local communities desperately need.' Andy Sumpter, retail consultant for Sensormatic, said: 'June delivered heatwaves, storms, and what could be the hottest June on record, but even the sunshine wasn't enough to spark a retail revival. 'One year on from the general election, with footfall still in the red, it appears that consumer confidence has yet to find its feet. 'That said, the rate of decline is easing, and with summer now in full swing, retailers have an opportunity to turn seasonal footfall into sustained momentum, especially those who can deliver value, experience, and convenience in equal measure.'
