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The Environment
vessels at berth, reducing emissions from transport sectors, and environmental publicity and education.
To capitalise on environmental business opportunities in the Mainland, the government supported the local environment industry's participation at the 13th China International Environmental Protection Exhibition and Conference held in Beijing in July. In October, the government also supported the setting up of a Hong Kong Pavilion at the Eco Expo Asia 2013 held in Hong Kong to help the branding of local environmental industries in the region.
Meteorological and Geophysical Services
Hong Kong Observatory
Established in 1883, the Hong Kong Observatory provides meteorological, climatological, radiation monitoring, oceanographic, geophysical, time and astronomical services.
To celebrate its 130th anniversary in 2013, the observatory published a book of essays, Under the Same Sky, and co-organised the 'Under the Same Sky 130 Years exhibition with the Hong Kong Museum of History between 9 July and 2 September, attracting more than 146,000 visitors.
Weather Forecast and Information Services
Weather information services are delivered to the public through the media, the Dial-a-Weather telephone enquiry system, the observatory website and social networking platforms. In 2013, the observatory website registered an unprecedented number of more than 65 billion page views.
The observatory also provides personalised weather information services to the public. Members of the public may create a personalised page for viewing items they desire, allowing more efficient access to weather information. In addition, the observatory enhanced its mobile application 'MyObservatory', available on popular smartphone platforms, to provide personalised weather services. In 2013 usage of the 'MyObservatory' smartphone application overtook that of the observatory website.
In 2013, the observatory launched a new version of 'Weather Wizard; a software tool delivering weather warnings and forecasts to personal computer users, and introduced a number of new features to its website, including a new webpage showing regional weather variations in Hong Kong and different weather elements on a detailed map, and a webpage providing hourly forecasts of air temperature, relative humidity, wind direction and wind speed for the next seven days at various locations.
The observatory broadcasts a weekly educational programme, 'Cool Met Stuff' since 30 December. It now produces free weather programmes for all TV stations and other media.
The observatory is active in international co-operation to enhance weather services. It co- ordinates the World Weather Information Service (WWIS) of the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), a web-based project providing official weather forecasts for around 1,700
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