Hong Kong can expect fewer but stronger typhoons in the future: expert
Expert says waves from such storms will require people in coastal areas to use wooden panels to secure windows and glass doors
Hong Kong can expect fewer but stronger typhoons in the future, a former assistant director of the Observatory has warned, with storms lasting longer and potentially becoming even more destructive than in the past.
Leung Wing-mo, a spokesman for the Hong Kong Meteorological Society, said the force of waves from such storms would require people in coastal areas to use wooden panels to secure windows and glass doors instead of tape, while more breakwater barriers would be needed.
“If we follow the mainstream opinion of scientists worldwide, the number of tropical cyclones under the effect of climate change will not increase; in fact, it will decrease,” he said.
“The Western Pacific and South China Sea may get about 30 tropical cyclones on average per year, but the number might not even hit 30 in the future; it could be 26, 27 or 28. There would be a slight decrease.”
But Leung pointed out that the proportion of strong typhoons would increase despite their overall decline in number.
“The ratio of super typhoons will be higher, with more of them. Naturally, the destruction will also be greater,” he said, adding that the duration of such storms at their strongest would also be longer.