香港路边空气污染状况更趋严重

Diesel fumes from aging trucks and buses that clog Hong Kong's narrow streets are putting Asia's financial hub on course for one of its worst years ever for roadside air pollution.

老旧卡车和巴士堵塞在香港狭窄街道上，排出的柴油尾气将让今年成为亚洲金融中心路边空气污染最严重的年份之一。

The city prides itself on its reputation for modernity that attracts professionals from around the world. And though smog regularly obscures Hong Kong's famed harbor, some pollution has become an accepted fact of life.

香港的现代化声誉吸引着世界各地的专业人士前来，这是它引以为荣的地方。虽然香港远近闻名的港湾常常有烟雾笼罩，但大家都已经接受了生活中存在一定程度污染的事实。

But air quality has taken a turn for the worse.

然而空气质量已经急转直下。

Last month marked Hong Kong's worst October for roadside pollution─air quality measured at street level─since the Environmental Protection Department began keeping the data in 1998. On 25 of 31 days, the air was bad enough that the government urged children, the elderly and the frail to stay indoors. In November, warnings have been issued for 15 of the first 24 days.

上个月是环境保护署从1998年开始记录相关数据以来，香港路边空气污染（在街道层面测量的空气质量）最严重的10月份。31天里面，有25天的空气质量都差到政府劝告儿童、老人和体弱者留在室内不要外出的地步。11月头24天里面，有15天政府都发布了警告。

'On certain days and weeks we don't open the windows,' said Andrew Leyden, an American tech entrepreneur who moved to Hong Kong two years ago with his wife and two young sons.

两年前和妻子及两个儿子一起移居香港的美国科技创业家莱登(Andrew Leyden)说，有些天，有几个星期，我们都不开窗户。

'I check the pollution reports here more often than I check the weather.' When the pollution is bad he has his elder son skip soccer practice and refuses to let him go downtown.

他说，我查看这里的空气污染报告比查看天气的次数都多。污染严重的时候，他就让大儿子取消足球练习，不让他去市中心。

Experts say the source of the bad roadside air is mostly local. Hong Kong is a major transshipment center for the region, and large numbers of trucks enter from Chinese mainland carrying containers to the port. But most of the pollution that leaves Hong Kong pedestrians coughing comes from local trucks and the city's ubiquitous double-decker buses, whose exhaust fumes accumulate in the dense forest of skyscrapers and narrow streets. The government reckons 80% of roadside pollutants are from aging diesel commercial vehicles.

专家说，路边空气质量恶劣的原因主要在于香港本地。香港是地区转运中心，大量卡车从内地进入，将集装箱运往港口。但让香港行人咳嗽的污染主要来自本地卡车和无处不在的双层巴士，它们排放的尾气在林立的高楼和狭窄的街道中间越积越多。政府估计80%的路边污染物来自老旧的用柴油的商用车辆。

Activists have criticized the government for trailing other cities in clamping down on polluters. A recent report by the city's audit department found Hong Kong has failed to meet its own targets on air quality since their adoption in 1987.

活动人士曾批评政府在控制污染源方面落后于其他城市。香港审计署前不久一份报告发现，现有的空气质量指标自1987年订立以来，从未完全达标。

Even among China's notoriously smoggy major cities, Hong Kong ranks second in nitrogen dioxide─a key indicator of roadside pollution─according to official Chinese data for 2010, the most recent available.

根据2010年的中国官方数据（这是可获得的最新近数据），即便是在空气污浊出了名的中国大城市中间，香港的二氧化氮（路边污染关键指标）也排到了第二名的位置。

Hong Kong's environmental department says overall air quality has improved in recent years as rules on power-plant emissions have grown more stringent. And Friday it announced it hopes to reduce certain pollutants between 5% and 25% by 2015 by adopting additional control measures.

香港环保署说，由于电厂排放规则加强，近几年整体空气质量有所改善。上周五，环保署又宣布说，通过采取更多控制措施，希望到2015年能将部分污染物减少5%到25%。

Meanwhile the air in the city streets has continued to worsen. When the roadside air pollution index─a measure of pollutants from ozone to carbon monoxide─exceeds 100, the government discourages people from spending time outside. That happened on 172 days last year, compared with just 25 in 2000. So far this year, this number of days with warnings stands at 134.

与此同时，香港街道上的空气质量继续恶化。当路边空气污染指数超过100时，政府会建议人们尽量少待在室外。该指数综合衡量从臭氧到一氧化碳等各种污染物的水平。去年有172天路边空气污染指数超过了100，相比之下，2000年只有25天。今年以来，该指数超过100的天数为134天。

In contrast to Chinese mainland, which mandates cargo trucks be scrapped after 15 years, Hong Kong does not require old vehicles to be retired, with the exception of public buses. They must be removed from service after 18 years. The Hong Kong government does require that all newly registered vehicles comply with tight emissions standards─but says that more than 90% of the 121,000 diesel commercial vehicles operating in the city don't meet them.

中国内地要求货车在使用15年后强制报废。与内地不同的是，除公共汽车外，香港对旧车没有强制报废的要求。香港的公共汽车在使用18年后不得继续服役。香港政府倒是要求所有新登记的车辆必须符合严格的排放标准，但港府说香港的12.1万辆柴油商用车辆中有90%以上不符合排放标准。

Beijing and Shanghai have banned high-polluting vehicles from certain areas. Hong Kong doesn't plan to follow suit until 2015, when it will ban high-emission buses from a few busy street corridors.

北京和上海已禁止高排污车辆进入某些区域。香港计划要到2015年才会推出类似举措，届时它将禁止尾气排放严重的巴士进入几条繁华街道。

Since his inauguration in July, Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying has pledged to do more about the city's air. In September, he appointed well-known green activist Christine Loh as environment undersecretary. And last month the government said it was considering banning old diesel vehicles.

自今年7月就职以来，香港特首梁振英一直承诺将采取更多措施应对空气污染问题。9月，他任命知名环保活动人士陆恭蕙担任环境局副局长。上个月，香港政府说正在考虑禁止旧柴油车上路。

'I think maybe we're hitting a critical tipping point here,' said Joanne Ooi, who helped found the Clean Air Network, a local nongovernmental organization.

香港非政府组织健康空气行动(Clean Air Network)创始人之一Joanne Ooi说，我认为我们可能即将到达一个一触即发的关键点。

The government has been working with public bus companies to retrofit older buses to reduce emissions. It has also introduced subsidies to encourage truck owners to upgrade to cleaner vehicles, and has partnered with authorities across the Pearl River Delta to try to reduce pollution.

政府一直在与公共汽车公司进行合作，以便改造旧巴士，减少排放。政府还提供补贴，鼓励卡车车主升级到更清洁的车辆。此外，在减少污染方面，政府一直与珠江三角洲各地有关部门进行着合作。

Surveys suggest air pollution is hurting Hong Kong's competitiveness. One in four Hong Kong residents has considered emigrating as a result of poor air quality, according to a 2010 Civic Exchange survey.

调查显示，空气污染开始损害香港的竞争力。据香港独立非营利智库思汇政策研究所(Civic Exchange) 2010年进行的一项调查，由于空气质量差，四分之一的香港居民已考虑移居海外。

Still, while expatriates complain about the pollution levels, cases such as that of Edo de Waart─who while music director of the Hong Kong Philharmonic sent his wife and children back to Wisconsin to breathe cleaner air─are rare. The city's attractiveness as a gateway to China remains a powerful lure.

尽管香港的外籍人士抱怨该市的污染水平，但很少有人像迪华特(Edo de Waart)那样做。迪华特在担任香港管弦乐团音乐总监期间，将自己的妻儿送回了威斯康星州，为的是呼吸到更清洁的空气。作为通往内地的通道，香港仍有很大的吸引力。

The University of Hong Kong estimates an average of 3,200 avoidable deaths were caused by air pollution annually in the past five years. Exposure to heavy air pollution, even for a short term, raises the risks of strokes, heart failure and arrhythmias, according to experts.

据香港大学(University of Hong Kong)估计，过去五年中，每年平均约有3,200例本可避免的死亡病例是由空气污染造成的。专家说，暴露于严重空气污染的环境下，即使时间很短，也会增大罹患中风、心脏衰竭和心律不齐的风险。

'It's really bad,' says Ko Kam Sing, 44, a Hong Kong local who works as a chauffeur and says his nose and throat often feel dry and irritated because of the air pollution. 'But there's nothing ordinary people can do about it. It's very hard to change.'

44岁的香港人Ko Kam Sing是一名私人司机，他称空气污染令他的鼻子和喉咙常常感到干涩不适。他说，空气质量太糟糕了，但普通人对此无能为力，很难改变。