This derivative regional analysis covers the East Asian region consisting of China, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan. While the Climate Vulnerability Monitor 3rd Edition (Climate Vulnerable Forum & V20 2022) provides a global overview of climate vulnerability with national-level data, the emphasis of this …
Hong Kong's air pollution hit an alarming high on September 14, with the index rising to over 200. This is the highest it has risen since air quality monitoring was introduced in 1995. Experts lay the blame on China. According to World Health Organization reports, China houses seven of the …
Independent laboratory tests carried out in Hong Kong revealed genetically engineered (ge) seeds in packages of papaya seeds being sold by the department of agriculture's research station in the province of Khon Kaen. One of the fields at the research station has been ascertained as the source of the ge …
row-ridden project: A Hong Kong court has cleared a huge reclamation project in the city's Victoria Harbour despite activists pointing out that the venture could destroy the world-famous waterway. The court ruling is being construed as a victory for local leader Tung Chee-hwa, who had backed the 18-hectare (ha) project. …
two new cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (sars) have been reported in China, taking the total number of afflicted persons to three. Worse still, Chinese authorities are realising that all their plans to contain the disease may go awry. This is because hundreds of millions of people in the …
As thick smog rolling in from southern China blanketed Hong Kong on Monday, November 3, 2003, alarm bells rang. Said a spokeswoman for the city's Environment Protection Department, "Our advice is to reduce physical exertions and outdoor activities, especially for people with existing heart or respiratory illnesses.' The pollution is …
Last November, a trader in Foshan, a small industrial town in Guangdong province in China, fell seriously ill with an incurable high fever and cough. He was suspected to be suffering from pneumonia, a non-infectious disease common in the area. But then four health workers who had been treating him …
Several strains of influenza or flu have been named after Guangdong province, where the first sars cases surfaced. This dubious distinction stems from the agricultural practices prevalent in the region. Rice fields support ducks and chickens, which feed on pig waste. The waste of one becomes the food of the …
Between March 25 and 27, 2003, two different groups of researchers in the cdc and Hong Kong University announced that a previously unrecognised coronavirus could have caused the sars epidemic. This family of viruses is the second leading cause of colds in children and premature infants but has never been …
sars is a stark reminder that there is no universal safeguard against infectious diseases. The syndrome has actually exposed the lack of preparedness with regard to infectious diseases
sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome) is making the world sneeze. Even as the global health community struggles to unmask a new, deadly, organism, it faces a 21st century dilemma: the speed at which its human carriers have travelled is faster than the incubation of the disease. There are several theories …
A recent study by the us-based Wildlife Conservation Society reveals that the quantity of shark fins in Asian markets could be double the previous estimates. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation, which monitors and manages the world's fish populations, says that lack of accurate data has resulted in conservation …
bold is beautiful: Anyone can become happy by behaving in extroverted ways. During three studies carried out in the US, about 150 randomly selected university students were asked to make records about their mood swings and activities for 10 weeks. The researchers found that the subjects invariably felt happier when …
Air pollution levels are soaring in Hong Kong. Smog drifting from the neighbouring Chinese province of Guangdong is said to be one of the major reasons for the alarming trend. To combat the menace, Hong Kong and Macau have been included in a Chinese pilot project under which strict pollution …
Not So Sweet More than 70 snacks, drinks and noodles have been removed from shop shelves. These were suspected to contain a possibly carcinogenic artificial sweetener called stevioside, which is extracted from a plant. According to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, stevioside is not internationally endorsed as a safe …
Following the death of thousands of birds due to the H5 virus attack, Hong Kong has culled 18,000 chickens at a farm outside a quarantined area. Allaying fears, health authorities said the strain was not the kind that killed humans in 1997. "To prevent the spread of the virus, we …
Although with the switchover of minibuses from diesel to lpg , the Hong Kong government would be sacrificing up to us $100 million diesel duty a year, environmentalists say the loss was worth bearing to clean Hong Kong's deteriorating air quality. It is estimated that the switchover would reduce the …
in the early 1980s, an illegal battery-disposal operation in Hong Kong's Junk Bay was releasing large amounts of polychlorinated biphenyls, lead and zinc into the water. But the crime did not escape everyone's vigil. The barnacles and mussels in the bay concentrated the pollutants in their tissues. The evidence they …
Hong Kong seems to be serious about protecting its environment. An environmental impact assessment board recently dismissed an appeal by the Kowloon-Canton Railway Corporation for laying rail tracks through the Long Valley, the largest remaining freshwater wetland in the country (Read Down To Earth, May 15, 2001). Local environmental groups …
