In recent years, it is uneasy to define when the summer ends in Hong Kong. Normally the city turns cooler after the Mid-autumn around late September and the winter comes in November until Spring comes in late February or early March in the year next. Owing to the well-known global warming and the greenhouse effect in the city, the heat lingers longer and longer than before. For example, in early October like today, the temperature is around 30 degree celcius. Last winter was the warmest winter recorded.
Nonetheless, when the wind pattern is observed, the wind starts to blow from inland indeed; offshore wind begins to prevail. This means the high pressure area shifts from the southern hemisphere to the northern hemisphere. Affected by monsoon climate, Hong Kong should have been cooled. Apparently it is not the case. In contrast, the offshore wind is not cool and additionally worsens the air pollution in Hong Kong. Pollutants are trapped under the light wind, and the sunny and hot weather conditions favour the photochemical formation of ozone in the region in the afternoon, resulting in elevated ozone levels, according to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) of HKSAR.
Hong Kong has been famous of its harbour view of both sides, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula. When the sky is clear and the visibility is high, the urban landscape shown proudly displays the advance of the city development. The people here enjoyed this experience in this summer for such a long time that could contribute to news headlines. Sadly the beautiful beginning cannot sustain. The EPD reported a record high of pollution. The bewitching harbour disappears; instead smog covers and whitens everywhere. The visibility is terrible. The department has to call that "with an API (Air Pollution Indices) in the very high range, people with heart or respiratory illnesses should reduce physical exertion and outdoor activities, and avoid prolonged stay in roads and streets with heavy traffic."
How terrific it is to live in a polluted envirnoment like Hong Kong. It is, therefore, understandable that a number of foreigners and foreign investment choose not to station in Hong Kong, for the sake of their own health. Hong Kong is well-known to be a diversified city, mixing various cultures together to produce its own spectacular style, but its notorious pollution and the high living density definitely set many people back. I do not have any ideas how the city can maintain its competitiveness if it is scarely habitable.
Meanwhile, the government, which I view as ironic, proposes to build some small incinerators today. It claimed that the construction is to cope with the trash problem, as the trash in Hong Kong is filling the landfills to the full very soon. Indeed pollution puts the government into a very hard situation, as it is almost certain that there is no perfect solution. Thus I do not quite understand how the current Chief Executive could possibly say the city's target pollution is around 9.5 million, rising from the present pollution of 6.92 million.
ps. Probably this is part of the reason why the people living here are not quite understandable, as all this is twisting people's disposition.
