SMG says bad air quality ‘normal’ for this time of year

The air quality index forecast provided by Macau’s Meteorological and Geophysical Bureau (SMG) has recorded several days of bad air quality between September and October, but meteorologist Frankie Tam said that pollution levels for this time of the year are a normal result of ozone pollution.
“We can see that the main air pollutant is ozone, which is formed when there’s very strong sunlight,” he stressed, recalling that in the past few weeks the weather has been mainly sunny and with weak winds. “It is normal [during] this time of the year. The ozone is at higher levels due to weather conditions,” he added, since by-products of burning gasoline and coal combine chemically with oxygen to form ozone, particularly in sunny, high-temperature conditions in late spring, summer and early fall.
Frankie Tam said that the Weather Bureau advises people with respiratory diseases to stay indoors if possible, or at least reduce exposure to pollution, as well as refraining from taking part in outdoor activities. They should also avoid staying too long in roadside areas when the air quality is bad.
SMG provides a daily air quality index bulletin based on the 24-hour data from an automatic monitoring network, which observes daily pollutants. The current list of pollutants includes breathable suspended particulate, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and ozone, among others.
They have recently partnered with Guangdong province and Hong Kong authorities to launch a Regional Air Quality Monitoring Information System, which is available on their website. Within the framework of this cooperation protocol, Guangdong and Hong Kong have extended their air quality monitoring network, while Taipa’s monitoring station has joined the Pearl River Delta platform.
Hong Kong will add one more monitoring station to its current three, while Guangdong province will increase its number of monitoring stations from 13 to 18, Macau’s Environmental Protection Bureau said recently in a statement.
Hong Kong’s air pollution reached its highest level last month, and nitrogen dioxide levels jumped as well. Poor roadside air quality presents the biggest daily health threat to Hong Kong’s citizens, according to the HKSAR’s government clean-air plan, published in 2013.