Dry July was hottest in Hong Kong since records began in 1884
Warmer weather and higher pollution threaten crop yields in China, scientists warn, which could hit global food production
Last month will go in the books as the hottest July on record, the Observatory announced, just a month after it said the same about June, as scientists warned of the effects of rising temperatures and pollution on crops.
Monthly mean temperatures hit a record-breaking 29.8 degrees Celsius, one degree higher than average, while monthly mean maximum temperatures hit 32.6 degrees, the second highest recorded in history and a 1.2 degree departure from the norm.
The Observatory attributed the month-long scorcher to the dominance of a subtropical ridge over southern China for most of July and bouts of continental airflow brought about by typhoons over the East China Sea.
All together, five tropical cyclones occurred over the South China Sea and the western North Pacific last month, the Observatory said.
A report by Hong Kong Observatory on the month's weather stated: "The month was relatively sunny and drier than usual with a monthly rainfall amount of 260.5 millimetres, about 31 percent below the July normal of 376.5 millimetres.
"The accumulated rainfall since 1 January was 1763.9 millimetres, about 20 percent above the normal of 1473.3 millimetres for the same period."