Burning fossil fuels creates local air pollution. It also creates greenhouse gases (GHGs) which increase the risk of dangerous climate change. While these problems have the same source their impact is different – see the box on the following page. What is certain is that air pollution and climate change are serious risks to our present and future quality of life and the way we do business.
Local Air Pollution is an immediate, local and regional problem. Further more, worldwide research has confirmed air pollution damages public health. The deterioration of Hong Kong’s air quality has resulted in a steady increase in the number of hazy days and the associated reduced visibility.
According to the Environmental Protection Department (EPD), in recent years Hong Kong has been facing two air pollution issues. One is local street-level pollution and diesel vehicles are the main source of this pollution. The other is the regional smog problem and this is caused by a combination of pollutants from motor vehicles, industry and power plants both in Hong Kong and in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. Regional air pollution comes from the transport sector, industry and power plants from the wider Pearl River Delta region.
Local sources are a significant contributor to Hong Kong’s pollution
According to a paper written by HKUST for Civic Exchange, during 2006 regional sources were the primary influence on Hong Kong’s air pollution for 132 days (approximately 36% of the time) while local sources (including vehicles, marine and power plants) were the primary influence on 192 days (nearly 53% of the time).
Based on these results, it is clear that reducing emissions of air pollutants in Hong Kong would have a significant positive impact on local air quality, which would in turn improve public health. In 2008, the number of hours for which street-level pollution exceeded the danger level in some of the city’s busiest districts rose by 14%, according to Environmental Protection Department (EPD) figures. In addition, Hong Kong’s infrastructure and “canyon-like” streets are an important cause of pockets of very high levels of urban pollution.
What’s the difference between greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants?
Local air pollutants are substances, such as sulphur dioxide (SO2), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), respirable suspended particulates (a.k.a. particulate matter, specifically PM10 and PM2.5) volatile organic compounds (VOCs), ground-level ozone (O3), and carbon monoxide (CO) that are present in the atmosphere and are potentially harmful to health. Sources of these pollutants include car exhausts, fossil fuel combustion, and chemical reactions between other pollutants in the atmosphere – such as photochemical smog. Greenhouse gases (GHGs) include the six principal gases identified by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) as being associated with climate change - carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), perfluorocarbons (PFCs), and sulphur hexafluoride (SF6).
Many air pollutants and greenhouse gases (GHGs) have common sources; their emissions may interact in the atmosphere and separately or jointly they cause a variety of environmental impacts on local, regional and global scales. Implementing climate policies, for example in order to achieve greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions targets, can significantly reduce the costs of meeting air quality targets and vice versa.
There are three main reasons why climate change is a more difficult problem to solve than local air pollution. Two are shown in this chart: (a) it is a global problem as greenhouse gases (GHGs) disperse around the world; (b) it takes a long time before greenhouse gases (GHGs) are absorbed into the sea and soil. The other reason climate change is a more difficult problem to solve than local air pollution is that people cannot see the damage it is doing. It is a colourless and odourless gas and some consequences of the gas accumulation may take decades to appear.
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Costs to Health The Hedley Environmental Index is the world’s first web-based tool to monitor real-time economic costs of Hong Kong’s air pollution in terms of human health and monetary impacts. The Index reports that air pollution in Hong Kong costs approximately HK$300 million resulting from 1,155 premature deaths, 81,023 total hospital bed days and 7.25 million doctor visits in 2008. A cumulative calculation of the five years from January 2004 to December 2008 show costs of an alarming HK$12.4 billion, from 6,068 premature deaths, 432,698 avoidable hospital bed days and 39.2 million avoidable doctor visits. |