Why Antarctica matters in Hong Kong — even from 12,000 kilometres away
When Hong Kong residents picture climate risk, they tend to think close to home: typhoons spinning up in the South China Sea, a black rainstorm flooding underpasses, or summer heat that seems to arrive earlier each year.
Antarctica can feel like the opposite of immediate—remote, silent, and irrelevant to daily life in a city of neon, harbours and high-rises. Yet what happens at the bottom of the world is quietly shaping Hong Kong’s future above the waterline.
First, Antarctica is not just a frozen continent; it is Earth’s largest storehouse of fresh water locked in ice. If that ice sheet loses mass—through warmer oceans eroding ice shelves from below or through surface melting—sea levels rise. Sea level rise is not a distant abstraction for a coastal city built around reclaimed land, tunnels, MTR lines, ports, and waterfront neighbourhoods. Even small increases in average sea level can make storm surges more damaging, push saltwater further into coastal systems, and turn rare flooding into a more frequent and costly disruption. In practice, a higher sea level means the same typhoon can do more harm.
Second, Antarctica acts as a powerful “engine” for the global ocean and climate. Around the 7th continent flows the Antarctic Circumpolar Current, which helps redistribute heat and influences how the oceans absorb carbon and warmth. When the Southern Ocean changes—through shifting winds, warming waters, or increased meltwater—it can alter circulation patterns that affect weather far beyond the polar latitudes. Hong Kong’s climate is driven by monsoons, ocean temperatures, and atmospheric circulation; those systems are connected. The planet’s climate is one system, not a set of isolated regions.
Third, Antarctica matters because it is a warning system with long memory. Ice cores preserve past climate changes; ice shelves reveal how quickly warming oceans can destabilise coastlines of ice; satellites show accelerating changes in near-real time. The ice sheet does not respond smoothly. It can pass thresholds where retreat speeds up, committing the world to higher sea levels for centuries. The decisions made in the next decade—about energy, emissions, and adaptation—will determine how close we get to those thresholds.
That is why I am returning to Antarctica this December. I first travelled there in 2023, and the experience reinforced a simple lesson: the polar regions are not distant curiosities. They are active parts of the system that governs sea level and climate for the whole planet. This time, I will join a research cruise to study the Antarctic ice sheet, collecting observations that help us understand how fast the ice is changing, what is driving those changes, and what that means for future sea levels.
The goal is not polar adventure; it is measurement. Better observations improve models. Better models help planners design coastal defences, upgrade drainage, protect critical infrastructure, and reduce the risk that today’s “once-in-a-century” flood becomes a regular headline.
Antarctica may feel far away, but its meltwater does not stay there. It spreads through the same oceans that surround Hong Kong. In a city defined by its shoreline, the fate of distant ice is local news.
Editor’s note: The author is the Dean and Chair Professor of the School of Energy and Environment at City University of Hong Kong.
