air pollution?

[monte]

Just wondering how the rest of you think about the air pollution here. Normally I try not to let it bother me too much, and we just go about our days, but today it was SO HIGH, and in fact at my husband's school they weren't supposed to let the kids outside at all. So we stayed in and didn't go to the park like normal. WHat do you think? At what point do you limit activities outside, and at what point do you just have to live your life?

...off to research playdough recipes for more indoor fun!

[carang]

i didn't realise it was so high, although i DID comment on how disgusting it was and has been lately.

i will be asking at my son's school tomorrow if they are letting hte kids out to play or keeping them inside. my son has had a TERRIBLE cough for the past couple of weeks, i'm starting to think it might be pollution related...

[Frenchy]

March 22 (Bloomberg) -- Hong Kong air pollution reached
“severe” levels above 300 at one roadside station and one
general station today, triggering a government warning to the
public to reduce outdoor activities.
The Air Pollution Index was at 302 at the Mong Kok roadside
station and 318 at the Kwun Tong general station as of 7 a.m.
local time, the Environmental Protection Department said on its
Web site. The government predicted levels could rise as high as
330.
The “severe pollution,” which the department attributed
to respirable suspendable particulates, triggered a warning that
the general public should avoid prolonged exposure to heavy
traffic areas and to reduce physical exertion and outdoor
activities.
Today’s pollution topped 200 at two other roadside stations
and five general stations.
Hong Kong’s Air Pollution Index had topped 100 in recent
days, a “very high” level that led to warnings that people
with heart or respiratory illnesses to reduce physical exertion
and outdoor activities.

[Flack]

This from the Australian site News.com.au today.


Hong Kong's air pollution has hit dangerous record highs / AFP

Hong Kong air pollution at record high
City's smog "kills three people a day"
Air three times dirtier than New York City's
HONG Kong's air pollution has soared to record levels, the Environmental Protection Department says, warning that a toxic stew enveloping the city was a danger to the public.

The government agency said it found Air Pollution Index (API) readings today that in one case were double the level that the general public is advised to stay indoors or avoid prolonged exposure to heavy traffic areas.

"Today's API is at record high levels,'' an agency spokeswoman said.

Hong Kong's famed skyline and harbour is often shrouded in a blanket of haze which has been criticised as a public health disaster and blamed for driving some expatriates away from the international financial hub.

In July 2008, the city's environmental agency recorded air pollution levels as high as 202, it said, well below today's record numbers which ranged from a low of 179 to a record 413 reading at one roadside station.

"As the sandstorm from northern China is moving southward with the northeast monsoon and is now affecting Hong Kong, the Air Pollution Index is expected to reach the 'very high' or 'severe' level,'' it said in a statement.

On the API index, people with heart or respiratory problems are advised to stay indoors at a reading of more than 100. The public is advised to stay indoors or avoid prolonged exposure to heavy traffic areas at more than 200.

On March 5, a group of businesses - including Starbucks, Pacific Coffee, Ben & Jerry's and Pure Fitness - launched an unprecedented petition campaign to combat Hong Kong's worsening air pollution.

The organisers also ran ads in newspapers, warning that the city's smog "kills three people a day'' and its air is "three times dirtier than New York City's''.

Data from the Hong Kong Observatory on March 2 showed that the annual number of hours of "reduced visibility'' - defined as visibility of less than eight kilometres in the absence of fog, mist or rain - skyrocketed to 1139 last year from 295 in 1988.

Authorities often blame deteriorating air quality on emissions from the southern Chinese factory belt over Hong Kong's northern border.

But a study by the Civic Exchange think-tank last year said that Hong Kong's own road emissions were the dominant source of air pollution in the densely populated city of seven million.

[aussie mum]

the sad thing is, i have become immune to it. all i thought today was how lovely it was that it was warm and sunny but not humid.

[carang]

now, i'm wondering if i should cancel the playgroup classes tomorrow? last thing i want to do is endanger the kids coming to my school....

any ideas, mums?

[carang]

decided to cancel classes tomorrow...better off keeping the kids relatively healthy

[fingerscrossed]

The EPD has the API at 500 now!!!! Not much better tomorrow so better stay indoors and keep those air purifiers on.