Image via WikipediaFrom TODAYOnline.com; Tuesday, 23-Mar-2010
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HONG KONG - Air pollution in Hong Kong and Taiwan soared to record levels yesterday - fuelled by a massive sandstorm over Beijing - and officials have warned the public to stay indoors.
Pollution levels have been elevated in Hong Kong for days, casting a gray pall over the harbour and obscuring views of the city's skyline.
By yesterday afternoon, the Air Pollution Index (API) readings soared even further, to well above 400 points at several measurement stations across the city, according to the Environmental Protection Department's website. Readings over 200 are considered "severe". The previous record was 202 in July 2008.
People with heart or respiratory problems are advised to stay indoors at an API reading of more than 100, a "very high" level. The public is advised to stay indoors or avoid prolonged exposure to heavy traffic areas at more than 200.
"Even though the dust storms have created record levels of particulate emissions, we must not lose sight of the fact that roadside pollution remains the single biggest threat to public health in Hong Kong," said Mr Mike Kilburn, environmental program manager at Civic Exchange, a public policy research institution.
In Taiwan, most of the pollution monitoring stations found that each cubic metre of air contained 1,000 micrograms of pollutants per hour. A level of 150 micrograms per cubic metre per hour is enough for the air quality to be described as "poor".
"This was the first time ever in Taiwan that air pollution was measured to be at such serious levels over such a wide geographic area," said Mr Chang Shun-ching, an official at the Environmental Protection Administration.
Doctors at two Taipei-area hospitals contacted by AFP said the number of outpatients complaining of respiratory difficulties and eye allergies had surged by 30 per cent above normal rates.
In the mainland, a huge swathe of the country's north was blanketed in fine yellow dust and a mustard-yellow haze, but the authorities said the sandstorm was weakening.
Winds blowing from the northwest have been sweeping sand across the country since Saturday, affecting Xinjiang in the far west all the way to Beijing in the east.
Sandstorms are an annual occurrence in arid northern China in the spring. Scientists blame a combination of deforestation and prolonged drought for the encroachment of desert into more of northern China.
The sandstorm was expected to hit South Korea today, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration.Agencies
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