The towering shame that's hanging over Hong Kong for all to see This was the view of Hong Kong's tallest building from Causeway Bay yesterday afternoon as the heart of the city took over the mantle of Smog Central from Tung Chung. An hour before the photograph of the 88-storey Two International Finance Centre was taken at 2pm, the air pollution index at the Central roadside monitoring station hit a peak of 158. Monitoring stations in Causeway Bay and Mongkok recorded index peaks at 7pm of 133 and 151 respectively. For most of the day the readings at all three stations stayed above 100 - the 'very high' level which triggers government warnings for people with heart ailments or respiratory disease to limit their activity outdoors. Of the 11 general air monitoring stations, seven recorded a reading above 100. At Tung Chung next to the airport on Lantau, where the reading hit a record high of 201 on Tuesday, a peak of 140 was recorded at 5pm. The good news is that some relief is on the way after three days of foul air. The Observatory says a moderate southeasterly wind, and a few showers, will help disperse the haze today. The bad news is that it could be days before we can breathe easy again. The Environmental Protection Department is forecasting the pollution index at general stations will stay high, at 80 to 100, while at roadside stations it will be 90 to 120. Still, scientists in the city and Guangdong are trying to make things better. Recognising Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta are one when it comes to pollution, they will spend the next two years studying how to give earlier warnings of when smog is about to descend.
