The Situation of Light Pollution in Hong Kong
“If you want to see a star in the night, Hong Kong is
the worst choice.”
- CNN, 2013.
In the case of Hong Kong, light pollution is not a new issue affecting ecology, eco-diversity and human societies. An international astronomy magazine, SKY & Telescope, criticized the serious light pollution in Hong Kong is an negative example as well as put our night scenes as the magazine cover in May 2010 to raise international awareness (Figure 1). Since then, our “Pearl of Orient” was blemished by the inefficient and unnecessary use of artificial light.
Energy- wasting signboards or spotlights that usually point upwards could generally be blamed in Hong Kong- one of the densest cities where mainly focuses on financial and tourism industries. Hence, thousands of international enterprises and shops rent numerous luminous billboards, video walls and neon signs in order to attract customers’ attention, for example, Gucci, LV and Esprit in Tsim Sha Tsui (Firgure 2) and Causeway Bay.
Moreover, the most controversial issue is the ten minutes show called “A Symphony of Lights” in Hong Kong every night (Figure 3), which involves at least 44 high buildings and different types of lighting effects, such as laser, searchlights, LED lights, simple lighting and projection lighting.
- CNN, 2013.
In the case of Hong Kong, light pollution is not a new issue affecting ecology, eco-diversity and human societies. An international astronomy magazine, SKY & Telescope, criticized the serious light pollution in Hong Kong is an negative example as well as put our night scenes as the magazine cover in May 2010 to raise international awareness (Figure 1). Since then, our “Pearl of Orient” was blemished by the inefficient and unnecessary use of artificial light.
Energy- wasting signboards or spotlights that usually point upwards could generally be blamed in Hong Kong- one of the densest cities where mainly focuses on financial and tourism industries. Hence, thousands of international enterprises and shops rent numerous luminous billboards, video walls and neon signs in order to attract customers’ attention, for example, Gucci, LV and Esprit in Tsim Sha Tsui (Firgure 2) and Causeway Bay.
Moreover, the most controversial issue is the ten minutes show called “A Symphony of Lights” in Hong Kong every night (Figure 3), which involves at least 44 high buildings and different types of lighting effects, such as laser, searchlights, LED lights, simple lighting and projection lighting.
Watch the video to know more about Hong Kong's light pollution problem. (1min58s) |
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