Hong Kong, Not Southern China, Responsible For Worst Of Its Own Smog - Reuters

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HONG KONG, March 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's air pollution is caused more often by local power stations and vehicles than by factories in southern China, a study released on Wednesday shows, overturning a commonly held belief.

By volume, most air pollution in crowded Hong Kong may come from China, but vehicles, ships and power plants in the former British colony are the main source of pollution for most of the time, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the Civic Exchange think tank says.

Hong Kong's worsening air pollution has become a growing source of concern in recent years. Both local coal-fired power plants and thousands of Hong Kong-owned factories in the Pearl River Delta have been blamed.

A government sponsored joint study in 1999 that showed that the southern province of Guangdong accounted for 80 percent of the region's emissions.

EDIT

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/HKG120256.htm