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Hong Kong's Hazy Outlook
Diesel fumes from aging trucks and buses that clog HongKong's narrow streets are putting Asia's financial hub on coursefor 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 attractsprofessionals from around the world. And though smog regularly obscures Hong Kong's famedharbor, 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 atstreet 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 thefrail 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 techentrepreneur 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 badhe 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 transshipmentcenter for the region, and large numbers of trucks enter from mainland China carrying containersto the port. But most of the pollution that leaves Hong Kong pedestrians coughing comes fromlocal trucks and the city's ubiquitous double-decker buses, whose exhaust fumes accumulate inthe dense forest of skyscrapers and narrow streets. The government reckons 80% of roadsidepollutants 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. Arecent report by the city's audit department found Hong Kong has failed to meet its own targetson 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 nitrogendioxide─a key indicator of roadside pollution─according to official Chinese data for 2010, the mostrecent 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。 |
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发表于 2016-7-11 09:55:50