Hong Kong's Skyline Obstructed by Heavy Pollution

Hong Kong's iconic skyline was obscured for the second day running by near-record pollution, after Typhoon Saola changed the wind direction.

 

Tourists at a lookout point called The Peak were left disappointed.

 

[Inna Gerasimchuk, Russian Tourist]: 

"I feel disappointed because I only stayed here for one day and I wanted to take the pictures of the view and I cannot see the view."

 

Air pollution in Hong Kong remained at very high levels for a second day running on Thursday.

 

Authorities urged children, the elderly and those with heart and respiratory illnesses not to linger in places with heavy traffic.

 

Pollution readings were "very high" in business and shopping districts such as Central, Western, Causeway Bay and Mongkok, government air pollution monitoring stations showed.

 

These reading were surpassed only once in March 2010 when a sandstorm in northern China smothered Hong Kong in dust.

 

[Prentice Koo, Greenpeace Spokesperson]: 

"Because of the typhoon in Taiwan, it changed the direction of our wind, bringing the pollutants from Guangdong (southern China) to Hong Kong just like the case in the winter. Even we are in summer right now, should be a clean, blue sky but it turned out to be like this."

 

But he said the underlying and constant roadside pollution was a contributing factor.

 

[Prentice Koo, Greenpeace Spokesperson]: 

"The roadside pollution is actually the secondary reason for this serious air pollution because the car, the traffic emit a lot of pollutants and under this kind of sunny day it turns to be the ozone which is visible air pollutant and become that hazy."

 

Hong Kong's air pollution has been a major source of worry for local citizens and foreign businesses, which increasingly see it as compromising the quality of life there.

 

In a recent survey by human resources consultancy ECA International, Hong Kong distinguished itself as a place where air quality was among the worst in the world.