ENG-1994 — Page 497

THE ENVIRONMENT

The department is also responsible for the co-ordination, supervision and implemen- tation of off-site ecological mitigation measures, recommended by consultants, to alleviate adverse effects of the new airport and related projects.

A proposal to establish marine parks and marine reserves in Hong Kong, to protect the territory's unspoilt marine environment, was endorsed by the Executive Council in August 1993. The Marine Parks Bill is being drafted to provide the necessary statutory power to designate and manage such parks and reserves. The first batch of marine parks and reserves will be designated by mid-1995.

Meteorological Services

Royal Observatory

The Royal Observatory was established in 1883, mainly to provide scientific information for the safe navigation of ships. In the ensuing century, the observatory has evolved in line with the changing needs of the community. The scope of its studies and services now covers the fields of hydrometeorology, climatology, physical oceanography, aviation meteorology and radiation monitoring and assessment. The observatory also operates the official time standard for Hong Kong, provides basic astronomical information and maintains a seismological monitoring network.

Weather forecasting and warnings of hazardous weather are the responsibility of the Central Forecasting Office at the observatory's headquarters. Weather programmes for the public are presented regularly on television by professional meteorologists from Mondays to Saturdays. Live interviews and briefings are also given by forecasters over the radio and television when the situation warrants. Two special bulletins, with illustrative weather charts, are prepared for the press each day. Forecasts and advice are also provided to meet the diverse requirements of specialised users such as the shipping, aviation, fishing, recreation and oil-prospecting industries.

Whenever Hong Kong is threatened by tropical cyclones, frequent warnings with advice on necessary precautions are widely disseminated. A colour-coded rainstorm warning is issued whenever heavy rain, which may cause serious road flooding and traffic congestion, is recorded. The observatory also issues warnings on thunderstorms, floodings, landslips, fire danger, strong monsoon winds and frost.

For people requiring instant access to weather forecasts or tropical cyclone information, the observatory operates a dial-a-weather automatic telephone answering service. With a growing demand for this service, there are now 113 lines for public weather forecasts and eight lines for South China coastal waters bulletins. Close to 20 million calls were received in 1994. On average, over 55 000 calls were answered daily. The Royal Observatory also offers weather briefings for ships' masters at its new Ocean Centre office.

Information is also provided to the INFOTEX and INFOFAX services, which make available by telex and telefax a large variety of routine weather information and pictorial data such as the daily weather map. Weather information is, in addition, available for access by terminals and pagers connected to a number of commercial communications and paging networks.

Special arrangements are made to broadcast the South China coastal waters bulletins three times a day routinely and four times daily when tropical cyclone warning signals are hoisted.

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