Air pollution in Hong Kong reached dangerous levels on Friday prompting a warning to people with heart and lung problems to stay off the streets.
Roadside monitors recorded ”high” levels as smog enveloped Hong Kong’s famous skyline.
The Environmental Protection Department blamed the build-up of smog on the hot and stagnant weather brought by Typhoon Sinlaku, hovering close to Taiwan.
”The hot weather conditions together with the bright sunlight has aggravated the formation of photo-chemical smog in Hong Kong and the South China region,” said a department representative.
”Under very still weather conditions, the air pollution emitted in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta region cannot get dispersed, so we then have very high pollution.”
Air quality in Hong Kong became a major issue in the late 1990s when thick smog regularly blanketed the territory, caused by a combination of vehicle fumes and pollution from southern Chinese factories in the Pearl River Delta.
Recent studies claim air pollution in Hong Kong is to blame for about 17 500 hospital cases annually, and to blame for accelerating the deaths of 550 people every year, mostly from respiratory or cardiovascular illnesses.
Hong Kong has taken steps to shift its minibus and taxi fleets to environmentally-friendly fuels, but efforts to liaise with mainland Chinese officials on cross-border pollution matters have had only limited success so far. – Sapa-DPA