Sunshine ignites Hong Kong’s most polluted days

Hong Kong suffers from over twice as many hours of very high roadside pollution in 1Q.

The Clean Air Network, a non-profit advocacy group, blamed an increase in sunshine for contributing to the smog in Hong Kong’s financial and shopping districts.

There were 180 more hours of bright sunshine, a 78% increase year-on-year, said the Hong Kong Observatory.

“The weather in the first three months of 2013 was drier and with a lot more sunshine, which was more conducive to photochemical smog formation,” said the Environmental Protection Department.

Roadside monitors recorded 1,372 hours when the pollution index exceeded 100 in the first three months compared with 580 hours for the same period in 2012. These measure air quality at Central, Mong Kok and Causeway Bay.

The index has a range from 0 to 500, with readings above 100 classified as very high pollution.