Breathing in cr@p again.
 

From my Tung Chung highrise I cant see the airport today, HKG Observator says air pollution very high at 138 and comprises of Ozone.

Wind at CLK 070/5 and at 2000' 070/20

Does anyone else still think there is a recession?

AFL

Ozone and NO2 are the main pollutants today. NO2 is primarily from automobile exhaust. I hate to say this, but this is our own sh!t, not China's. The depression south of here has us basking in our own emissions.

You're right on the money, so to speak, Alpha Floor
 

The pollution is coming from Shenzhen, Dongguan and other points north of HKG. Ex-students of mine working in various companies there say order books are getting fatter again.

seems to be a mixture of both, locally created and regional crap.

if you compare the data at the roadside stations (especially the NOx way out of limits, but SO² low in comparison) and the general stations (SO² and RSP extremely high) which is mainly coal powerplant pollution (from here and north of the border) you get the "big picture"
Ozone is a "secondary pollutant" - it is not emitted but created by sunlight exposure of all that crap..

Real Air Pollution Index Google Map | Greenpeace China


(edit at 23:00 loc: as traffic reduces at night time so will the NOx levels)

What a lovely day in HKG today. The ATIS broadcasting 4000m but in actually the viz showing about 2000m. It was nice to arrive with what I consider the familiar smog. ;)

Yunno, this time the air was breathable.

The other day in Shanghers (PVG), I opened the door to the airbridge to do the customary walk around the aircraft when I was greeted with an offensive wall of smell which almost felled me. This toxic aroma had blends of of "Tsing Tsao" with the garlic bread I had two days prior. My first reactions were blamed on the poor security guard leaning against the door.

Anyways, I reckon Honkers in "Honkee land" have it ok.

Don't feel too special.

OMDB 021300Z 34012KT 1500 DU NSC 36/23 Q0998 NOSIG

Day 5 of this sh!t

halas

The vis has been great for the last few months. It was crap for a couple of days a few weeks ago, but that was due to a Tropical storm. It came our way, sucks up all the pollution and it just sits here.


Take a look at the weather sites and you can see another Tropical Depression is on it's way. Any bets it clears up after it passes!!!!

halas, unfortunately our low visibility is made of this:

Respirable Suspended Particulates (2.44 times WHO levels)
(that's the bigger PM10 particles, the really dangerous PM2.5 are not published by the government)
Sulphur Dioxide (2.05 times WHO levels)
Ozone (1.69 times WHO levels)
(data snapshot as of 02.AUG 22:30 local, near the airport)


I'm not saying I'd prefer to breathe in desert dust though ...

Cough, Cough...
 

Thanx, FreightDog188.

Am particulately grateful for the atmo data as I'll be in HKG in a few days and flying out to SGN yet more days later.

Still love the place though.

whilst we're talking about this anyways:

the government has (finally) proposed to update the outdated Air Quality Guidelines and our rediculous Air Pollution Index, however they only want to adopt the standards that the WHO suggests as an interim target devised for poor 3rd world countries.

But here comes the good bit: they have a public consultation until end of November, and if enough people tell them that we want the proper WHO Air Quality Guidelines to be adopted as our standard we might have a chance.

If a measly 30000 Lehman brothers minibond investors can make this weak government force their beloved banker buddies to pay them back billions we should be able to achieve something here....

here's the link to the consultation:

EPD - Air Quality Objectives [www_epd_gov_hk]

but be careful, questions 3 and 4 are basically asking: "Are you ok with us dragging our feet on this issue?"
pls. demand the adoption of most stringent WHO AQGs a.s.a.p.

Copy that Freightdog 188,

But apparently the bacteria that comes with the dust is very nasty, Something that WHO could not even measure, if they cared.

Day 7 now of this sh!t

halas

The government set the lofty target of 1% energy consumption reduction to combat the problem, unfortunately we missed the target again this year, but hey, they reset it for next year! These guys are all over it. :rolleyes:

Freightdog - took your excellent advice and submitted the form paying careful attention to mention the stricter WHO AGQ's rather than the interim idea.

It's important to do it.

The view from my balcony is great today!
AF, ever thought of moving from Dung Chung?

Farman, After you thanks...

even though we're having a few nice days just now we all know that it won't last forever.

and for when it does go all hazy and yellow again and the government only tells us that pollution levels are "medium to high" - here is a downloadable desktop tool (for PC and Mac) to evaluate what our air quality is really like:

Join The Greenpeace Air Quality Patrol | Greenpeace China [real air pollution index tool]