Reuters runs a lengthy feature on how air pollution has become a cost consideration in one of the holy cities of global capitalism:
Andy Ridehalgh, a British expatriate who has worked as an English teacher for three years in Hong Kong, has had enough of the city’s air pollution. He’ll move with his wife and newborn son to southern France next year.
“I’m asthmatic and I use a lot more Ventolin when I’m here,” he said, referring to his asthma medication.
“If you think about the effect it’s having on me, think about the effect it’s having on a small baby. It’s not something we want permanently.”
…While the economic costs of bad air have been difficult to quantify, the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong found in a recent survey that four out of five business executives knew someone who was thinking of leaving or had left the territory because of the poor air. [Full Text]
A more extensive report on the survey is available from Reuters via Planet Ark here. The Hong Kong Observatory website provides a link to official daily air pollution index at the bottom of its weather report.
Technorati Tags: air pollution, China, Hong Kong
