\u201cI come here when it\u2019s stuffy at home,\u201d said Fan, 33, who has a job but hesitates to run the air conditioner overnight because of high bills. \u201cIf I turn on the air conditioner for the whole family, it will cost a lot.\u201d One summer, the heat woke him up 20 nights in a row.<\/p>\n
For decades, Hong Kong\u2019s climate worries centered on typhoons and floods. Now, after its hottest year on record, a quieter, deadlier threat is emerging: heatwaves. According to David Bishai, Director of the University of Hong Kong\u2019s School of Public Health, heatwaves have become the city\u2019s 10th leading cause of death, now claiming the same number of lives as diabetes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Heat killed 1,455 people<\/a> in the city between 2014 and 2023 \u2013 about 150 each year. Most died out of public view and heat was not recorded on their death certificates. \u201cEvery year is the world\u2019s hottest year,\u201d Bishai warned. \u201cThat\u2019s the rest of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n Hot nights in this subtropical city on China\u2019s southeastern coast have risen 38-fold over the past century, driven by a mix of climate change and the city\u2019s dense landscape. Between 2022 and 2024, Hong Kong recorded up to 56 \u201chot nights\u201d<\/a> each year \u2013 when temperatures do not dip below 28C.\u00a0 By 2100, Hong Kong could see as many as 150<\/a> such nights each year.<\/p>\n Hong Kong\u2019s tightly-packed neighborhoods, with 7.5 million residents packed into high-rises, leave apartments hotter inside than they are outside and much hotter than surrounding rural areas. \u201cThe sun heats up all these concrete buildings [during the day], and they are going to stay hot all night long,\u201d said Bishai. \u201cConcrete and very dense brick heat up like a pizza oven.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2020 study<\/a> by the Chinese University of Hong Kong found consecutive hot nights are more dangerous than daytime extremes. Without cool, restful sleep, the body struggles to recover, with the heart and lungs working overtime. \u201cIt\u2019s like running a marathon,\u201d said Bishai. \u201cThe longer the heatwave lasts, the more likely you are to just run out of steam.\u201d Deaths often spike several days<\/a> into a heatwave and can keep rising for weeks<\/a> afterward.\u00a0<\/p>\n Unequal Burden<\/p>\n The impact of nighttime heat is uneven. Around 220,000 people live in 110,000 subdivided flats<\/a> \u2013 tiny, crowded, often windowless spaces. Here, indoor temperatures at night can feel like 44C<\/a>. Air-conditioned malls offer temporary refuge, but only until closing time.<\/p>\n Villagers in Hong Kong use fans and leave doors open to keep cool as hotter nights become more common in the subtropical city. Photo: Marianne Bray.<\/p>\n Elderly residents and those with chronic illnesses are especially vulnerable. Ambulance calls surge during heat spells, according to Chen Weiquan from the Hong Kong Fire Services Department. The Hong Kong Red Cross now distributes wearable health monitors for the elderly, but the group\u2019s senior manager for community resilience Eva Yeung\u00a0says\u00a0the system cannot summon immediate hospital care.<\/p>\n Her team recently placed temperature sensors in rural squatter homes in Hung Shui Kiu, an area that sits in the western part of the city\u2019s New Territories. The findings were sobering: at night, indoor temperatures stayed alarmingly high, with bedrooms regularly exceeding 35C, putting health at serious risk. \u201cPeople are really suffering,\u201d Yeung said, underscoring the urgent need for accessible public cooling spaces after dark.\u00a0<\/p>\n A Patchwork of Solutions<\/p>\n Hong Kong operates 19 cooling centers during heatwaves, many open overnight. In 2024, shelters<\/a> stayed open for 66 nights \u2013 almost every night during the peak of summer alerts. \u201cWhen we see the warning is still on at around 4:30 p.m., we keep the centre open and start preparing instant noodles and blankets,\u201d said Lucy Shih, a staff member at the Kennedy Town complex.<\/p>\n But access is uneven. Fan, who lives in the city\u2019s east, treks to Kennedy Town because nearby centers are overcrowded or uncomfortable. Sometimes the air-conditioning shuts off at 11 p.m., while new research<\/a> by Greenpeace found a third of shelters did not have any air-conditioning at all. It is mostly men who turn up, Fan said, raising concerns about safety for women, and the desirability of these centers.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Nighttime temperatures in Hong Kong are still high in autumn with people leaving their hot homes after dark to have a cold drink in cooler outside air. Photo: Marianne Bray.<\/p>\n Energy costs add another barrier. Many residents avoid air conditioning at night, fearing high power bills. Poor ventilation in public housing means that even with windows open, heat lingers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Utility companies in the city offer limited subsidies<\/a>: CLP gave HK$50 million (US$6.4 million) to 70,000 households in 2025, while HK Electric gave HK$1.2 million to 1,200 subdivided flat residents.\u00a0<\/p>\n The economic toll is mounting, with heat-related illness and deaths straining families, health care and the economy. A 2023 study<\/a> found that heatwave deaths in 24 Chinese regions cost 2.2 to 4.8 billion yuan (between US$309 million and $674 million) between 2014and2019, with men and those over 65 needing more healthcare support. Local studies<\/a> link excess nighttime heat to a 3.1% rise in hospitalization, especially among the elderly.\u00a0<\/p>\n A heat stroke poster on Lamma Island, Hong Kong, on September 9, 2024. Photo: Martina Igini\/Earth.Org<\/p>\n Despite the growing danger, Hong Kong\u2019s Climate Action Plan 2050 focuses on carbon reduction, with little attention to heat adaptation<\/a>. Unlike the city\u2019s coordinated and heavily-funded flood management strategy, heat response remains a patchwork issue in Hong Kong. The observatory issues warnings; various departments open shelters, coordinate with schools, give health advice or set heat workplace standards \u2013 but the city still lacks a unified heat action plan. \u201cA climate adaptation plan is missing in action,\u201d said Bishai.<\/p>\n Globally, as many as 140 countries have heat health action plans, Bishai\u2019s research shows. The best have a lead agency that coordinates and monitors alerts, shelter access, hospital readiness and urban cooling, focusing on the most vulnerable like the elderly and pregnant women. Some cities even encourage pharmacists to warn customers with high-risk medical conditions about heat dangers, ensuring they know to get to a cool place. Cities like Ahmedabad in India have plans in place that helped the city prevent 1,100 deaths per year<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Nearby in the Pearl River Delta, Guangzhou has launched a \u201cPrevent Heatstroke, Enjoy Summer\u201d campaign, offering digital alerts, home visits, and a 24\/7 hotline for the elderly. Hong Kong, Bishai argues, needs to catch up.<\/p>\n He is pushing for a citywide heat action plan that brings together health, housing, and emergency services, with real-time data sharing and coordinated public outreach. He has reached out to district councils and government agencies, and his students are in the field, gathering data and raising awareness. \u201cHeat deaths are a \u2018nowdemic,\u2019\u201d he said. \u201cWe need to wake up to what\u2019s going on.\u201d<\/p>\n He listed long-term solutions including more accessible and secure cooling shelters \u2013 especially for women and families \u2013 heat-resilient public housing, and smarter urban design<\/a> such as shaded walkways, green roofs, and heat-reflective materials. The city\u2019s Red Cross, for one, is handing out fans, applying heat-reducing window film and painting roofs with cooling coatings in vulnerable communities.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some Hong Kong village homes are small and cluttered, and many don\u2019t have air-conditioners, making it hard for residents to stay cool. Photo: Marianne Bray.<\/p>\n As the population and buildings age in Hong Kong, and more people live alone, the city\u2019s risks will only multiply. \u201cGetting people to stay cool will stop [heat-related deaths],\u201d Bishai said.\u00a0<\/p>\n For now, residents like Fan must cobble together their own solutions. \u201cI just want a good night\u2019s sleep,\u201d he said, preparing for a sweltering night in a borrowed bed. \u201cIt\u2019s simple, but is that too much to ask?\u201d<\/p>\n Featured image: Marianne Bray.<\/p>\n This story is funded by readers like you<\/p>\n Our non-profit newsroom provides climate coverage free of charge and advertising. Your one-off or monthly donations play a crucial role in supporting our operations, expanding our reach, and maintaining our editorial independence.<\/p>\n About EO<\/a> | Mission Statement<\/a> | Impact & Reach<\/a> | Write for us<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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