That Hong Kong’s air pollution is bad is not news (are you resigned to the fact yet?), but it’s getting a lot worse this month as light winds fail to disperse pollutants and whatever wind we have is blowing pollutants from Guangdong our way. So much so the government has warned residents to reduce outdoor activity.
At roadside monitors in busy districts like Central and Mong Kok yesterday at 6:00pm, Air Quality Health Index measured an 8 out of 10 and Causeway Bay got a full 10 out of 10. That means serious health risks. According to the government index, elderly people and children or people with heart or respiratory illnesses should stay home, and going out for a run on the street is a bad idea.
Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has made cleaning up the city’s skies a priority in his policy but hasn’t the government been saying so for years? Perhaps the government should stop paying lip service to cleaning up the air and do something for real before we all develop respiratory-related diseases.
Source: Bloomberg
Photo: Prince Roy, Flickr
