Hong Kong Air Pollution Essay

Nowadays, the air pollution had become a serious problem over the world. Severe challenges of air pollution can be seen in many places. For example, with a booming economy and ever-increasing demand for energy in most developed cities in China, a large number of air pollutants were released into the atmosphere mainly due to the reliance on the coal as a primary energy source for domestic and industrial needs (Ning et al, 1987). The air pollution and smog in Beijing and Shanghai are sometimes so bad that airport is shut down as the poor air quality: low visibility and haze environment. Wang 2013 indicated that around one-third Chinese cities were covered by haze and fog in the winter of 2012. Air pollution is a very serious problem in China and it causes an adverse effect on human health and the environment.

Burning coal not only releases CO2 into the atmosphere resulting in greenhouse effects but also releases a large number of air pollutants, like sulfur dioxide (SO2), Nitrogen oxides (NOx)(nitrogen monoxide NO + nitrogen dioxide NO2) and particular matter (PM) that seriously adverse effect on human health. Particularly,

Air pollution in Hong Kong mainly from two sources: local street-level pollution and regional smog. Diesel vehicles are the main source of street-level pollution and smog mainly come from the emissions of motor vehicles and power plants both in Hong Kong and Pearl River delta region (HKEPD). In Hong Kong, with the high population density, continuous increase in vehicle number and density and high frequency of traffic flow, the pollution levels from vehicle emissions increase dramatically and further deteriorate air quality in Hong Kong. The air pollutants emitted by motor and diesel vehicles are regarded as the main contributor to local air pollution of Hong Kong (HKEPD, 2001, 2012; Lu and Wang, 2004,