ENG-2005 — Page 362

312 The Environment

climate forecasts and carries out studies on climate change and the impact of weather and climate on health.

In August, the Observatory announced the results of a study on the projected changes in Hong Kong's rainfall in the 21st century. At the request of the World Meteorological Organisation, the Observatory produced a report on the relationship between the weather and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and avian flu for consideration by its executive council.

The Observatory produces an annual tide table for Hong Kong. It also provides estimates of the magnitude of extreme storm surges and advice on oceanographic matters to other government departments and the engineering community.

Earthquake activities in the vicinity of Hong Kong are monitored via a network of eight short-period seismograph stations. Long-period seismographs at the Observatory's headquarters detect tremors worldwide and information on significant tremors is made public through the media. Following the disastrous Indian Ocean tsunami on December 26, 2004, the Observatory introduced tsunami bulletins, in addition to warnings, to inform the public of any tsunami that may reach Hong Kong, irrespective of its height, in order to meet the public's need for more information on tsunamis and to maintain public awareness.

The Hong Kong Time Standard is provided by a caesium beam atomic clock. which is accurate to within fractions of a microsecond. The Observatory contributes to the determination of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) by supplying signals of its atomic clock to the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM) in France. A six-pip time signal is sent to Radio Television Hong Kong for broadcast at quarter- hour intervals. A time checking service is also available to the public through the Observatory's Dial-a-Weather System as well as through the internet. The Internet Network Time Service handled about 355 million checks in 2005, a rise of about 22 per cent compared with the previous year.

Home Pages

Environment, Transport and Works Bureau: www.etwb.gov.hk Economic Development and Labour Bureau: www.edlb.gov.hk

Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department: www.afcd.gov.hk Environmental Protection Department: www.epd.gov.hk

Hong Kong Observatory: www.hko.gov.hk and www.weather.gov.hk