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Hong Kong environmental issues
OpinionLetters

LettersMore research needed to link sea level changes to human-induced global warming

  • Readers discuss recent warnings about sea level rise around Hong Kong, the Chengdu residents stuck in lockdown during a deadly earthquake, and the rise in Covid-19 cases in Hong Kong

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Strong waves reach homes in Lei Yue Mun as Typhoon Hato hits Hong Kong on August 23, 2017. Photo: Sam Tsang
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I refer to David Dodwell’s column “Rising sea levels could sink Hong Kong, yet we are still doing very little about it” (August 27) and Edward Shen’s letter “City must take swift action on rising sea levels” (September 2).

Future sea level change in Hong Kong is a complicated subject requiring further research and longer observation of tide gauges and satellite altimetry (measurements of the distance between a satellite and given surface) than is currently available.

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Storm surge-generated sea level rise during typhoons, which is our city’s major immediate concern, must however not be confused with long-term sea level change blamed by many on anthropogenic global warming.

My investigation of sea level changes in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour, published this year in the journal Imperial Engineer, is based on a record of tide gauges taken from 1954 to 2021. My findings include the following.

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One, the record reveals two pauses in sea level rise of 33 years (1959-1991) and 23 years (1999-2021) in duration, separated by nine years of accelerated sea level rise from 1990 to 1999.

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