Letters to the Editor, May 27, 2014
I refer to the letter by Wyss Yim ("Take care with claims over climate change", May 15).
According to media reports, hailstones with a diameter of about 5cm were reported in places far less urbanised than Hong Kong. While the contribution of urbanisation to the water cycle remains a subject of research, the occurrence of hail on March 30 cannot be erroneously interpreted as merely a local phenomenon due to urban heat island effect.
I would also like to mention the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) because they represent the consensus of climate scientists. Two of the many findings published in its 5th Assessment Report (AR5) are: a global scale intensification of heavy precipitation in the second half of the 20th century over land regions; and Arctic sea ice loss since 1979.
Again, to quote from AR5: "It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century." Admittedly, there is no simple one-to-one causal relationship to the exclusion of all other possibilities in the highly complex evolution of nature.
Casting doubt and finding room for comfort in denial are therefore relatively easy.
However, I would rather encourage all to face the challenges instead, and take responsibilities and actions to safeguard a future for our next generations, including raising public awareness to the possibility of more frequent extreme weather as a result of climate change.
