SCMP: With buses and tall buildings here to stay, tackling roadside pollution must become top priority
New research by HKUST reveals that most of the most polluted roads are not covered by the government’s measuring stations. Eight roads had NO2 levels of up to 300 micrograms per cubic metre, catergorised as “very high” on the government scale.
“These findings mean Kwun Tong, Hung Hom, Wan Chai, Kwai Chung and Eastern district also suffer from levels of roadside pollution that are hazardous to health.
This is not surprising, given that it is logical to assume that the problem is unlikely to be confined to just three localities in a densely populated and congested high-rise city. But one immediate reaction, from the Clean Air Network, is that three low-emission zones a government consultant proposed last year – for Central, Causeway Bay and Mong Kok – are too small to cover areas seriously affected.”
The most vital finding from this research is the the interaction between urban traffic and high-rise buildings in raising pollution to dangerous levels.
“Hennessy Road, for example, does not carry the heaviest traffic, but stretches of the thoroughfare are Hong Kong’s most polluted. The researchers say this is because buses, bus stops and traffic lights combine with the canyon created by its many tall buildings to form a pollution trap. However, when Hennessy Road reaches Victoria Park, where pollutants have room to disperse, nitrogen dioxide levels plunge from more than 300 to 75.”
With buses and tall buildings here to stay, ways to curb roadside pollution might be higher bus fares and electricity charges in order to cover the cost of conversion to cleaner fuels.
For the full article, go here (subscription only)
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