A meeting was held yesterday morning at the Shenzhen Meteorological Bureau to discuss “The ocean, our climate and weather,” the theme of World Meteorological Day, which falls on March 23 each year.
When it comes to the weather and climate, most people only think about what is happening in the atmosphere. In fact, oceans play a pivotal role in driving the world’s weather and climate and in anchoring the global economy and food security.
Wang Yanqing, director of the bureau, said during the discussion that Shenzhen’s 230-kilometer coastline has a close relationship with the ocean.
Wang gave an example that the opposing La Nina and El Nino climate patterns decide whether the city will experience a warm or cold winter.
The recent proposal on building Shenzhen into a global marine center has required the meteorological department to provide timely information and conduct disaster mitigation and relief work and also to provide comprehensive services to ensure economic development, said Wang.
In order to better manage the work, Wang has also called for more efforts from the public to jointly enhance marine monitoring during the discussion.
In terms of possible severe weather in the city this year, Wang suggested that heavy downpours and typhoons will be the two things that the city needs to get prepared for.
The city is expected to enter a stage with severe convective weather starting April, with the first round of wide-range downpours to arrive in between late April and early May, according to meteorologists.
Around five to eight typhoons are expected to enter within 500 kilometers of the city this year. The first typhoon is expected to arrive in June.
Heavy downpours and typhoons might hit the city at the same time. However, Wang said that it will not be as severe as Typhoon Mangkhut in 2018.
The meteorological department will continue to enhance management in preventing meteorological disasters.
In addition, the department is mulling the launch of life-related indexes such as health index and travel index to let residents know whether it is a good day to work out in a bid to focus more on our ecological environment and people’s happiness.