Managing earth to make future development more sustainable: learning from a megacity like Hong Kong

Abstract

Selected recent findings related to climate change in Hong Kong include: (1) The Hong Kong seafloor has yielded a 0.5-million year record of climate and sea-level changes. (2) Greenhouse gases produced naturally from sub-aerially exposed continental shelves were a probable forcing mechanism in triggering the termination of past ice ages. (3) An analysis of annual mean temperature records has revealed that the urban heat island effect has contributed 75 % of the warming. (4) Past volcanic eruptions are found to lower Hong Kong's temperature and to cause extremely dry and wet years. (5) No evidence can be found for an increase in frequency and intensity of typhoons based on the analysis of an 8,000-year record in the Pearl River Estuary. (6) The observed rate of sea-level rise in the South China Sea is much slower than the predictions of the IPCC Fourth Assessment. For the Earth's management, population growth and the depletion of non-renewable resources must be recognized as unsustainable. The human impact on the natural hydrological cycle is an important forcing mechanism in climate change. In order to delay the demise of the human race, management must include curbing population growth and much more waste recycling than at present.