HONG KONG (AFP) – Hong Kong's air pollution soared to record levels Monday, the Environmental Protection Department said, warning that a toxic stew enveloping the city was a danger to the public.
The government agency said it found Air Pollution Index (API) readings that in one case were double the level that the general public is advised to stay indoors or avoid prolonged exposure to heavy traffic areas.
Hong Kong's famed skyline and harbour is often shrouded in a blanket of haze which has been criticised as a public health disaster and blamed for driving some expatriates away from the international financial hub.
In July 2008, the city's environmental agency recorded air pollution levels as high as 202, it said, well below Monday's record numbers which ranged from a low of 179 to a record 413 reading at one roadside station.
"As the sandstorm from northern China is moving southward with the northeast monsoon and is now affecting Hong Kong, the Air Pollution Index is expected to reach the 'very high' or 'severe' level," it said in a statement.
Data from the Hong Kong Observatory on March 2 showed that the annual number of hours of "reduced visibility" -- defined as visibility of less than eight kilometres (five miles) in the absence of fog, mist or rain -- skyrocketed to 1,139 last year from 295 in 1988.
Authorities often blame deteriorating air quality on emissions from the southern Chinese factory belt over Hong Kong's northern border.
But a study by the Civic Exchange think-tank last year said that Hong Kong's own road emissions were the dominant source of air pollution in the densely populated city of seven million.
Source: news.yahoo.com and afp.com
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Hongkong Pollution Fact: Hongkong is three times air polluted than New York.
"Technology is one of the greatest tools in preventing air pollution. The creation of new vehicles that produce less pollution is a major step towards clean air."
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