Global warming could raise sea level by more than half a metre
Global warming could increase the risk of flooding along the harbour during storms as the sea level rises by more than half a metre over the next 50 years, experts have warned.
They said the main risk of flooding lay with land reclamation along the harbour, and one called on the government to develop a model of the effects of global warming on Hong Kong's coastline to accurately predict areas in danger.
The most recent research by local universities predicts that global warming, which will melt ice at the poles and expand the oceans, will raise the sea level along the city's shores by up to 0.53 metres by 2050.
This raises the risk that existing protection against surges in the sea level could be breached by sea water during rainstorms and typhoons, according to Ding Xiaoli, associate professor at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University's department of land surveying and geo-informatics.
'There is certainly the potential of flooding along the harbour as the sea level continues to rise and [reclaimed] land continues to settle,' he said.
Harbour districts are the most densely settled part of Hong Kong - home to about 2.24 million, or about a third of the population, according to census figures.