Sample3 Light Pollution

Running head: LIGHT POLLUTION IN HONG KONG 1

Light pollution in Hong Kong: Negative effects and possible solutions

Hong Kong, known as the Pearl of the Orient, is renowned for its spectacular

night scene. However, not every Hong Kong citizen gains pleasure from it. Those

magnificent lights on one hand attract millions of tourists every year, but on the other

hand cause severe light pollution in the city. According to the statistics released by

Hong Kong’s Information Services Department (2010), the total number of

complaints about light nuisance received by various government departments rose

dramatically from 103 in 2007 to 389 in 2009. Notwithstanding the unprecedentedly

huge number of complaints and its dramatic effects, the government still does not

have any effective policies on combating light pollution. To solve the deteriorating

situation of light annoyance, legislation to regulate the use of lights and education can

be considered as the practicable solutions.

Light pollution is defined as “... any adverse effect of artificial light, including

sky glow, glare, light trespass, light clutter, decreased visibility at night, and energy

waste” (International Dark-Sky Association, n.d., paragraph 1). Hong Kong, as a

densely populated metropolis, unfortunately has the most deplorable light pollution

problem in the world due to its ubiquitous illuminations all around the city. Owing

to the inadequate regulation to monitor the use of lights, thousands of neon signs can

be found in some districts such as Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui and many shops will

not turn off the lights even during midnight (朱漢強、陳曉蕾，2008). These lights

coming from street lamps, neon lights, flashing advertisement signs and sometimes

indoor lightings can be considered as the major sources of light pollution in Hong

Kong as they cause nuisance to plenty of Hong Kong people.

LIGHT POLLUTION IN HONG KONG 2

The reasons why so many people express grave concern over this problem are its

far-reaching consequences to both human health and the ecology. According to the

research conducted by Navara and Nelson (2007), over-illumination can lead to

metabolic disruption, sleep deprivation and immunological modulation in humans.

Some studies even found that over-illumination raises the risk of breast cancer (West,

n.d.). To the ecology, unshielded lights will reduce the amount of visible stars (Rich

& Longcore, 2006). There are also numerous adverse effects on animals such as

affecting their success of reproduction, mating behaviour as well as the search for

food (McDonnell, Hahs, & Breuste, 2009). What is more, the excessive use of

illuminations will waste a large amount of energy every year. Due to these

detrimental impacts, environmental groups and citizens expect the government takes

immediate actions to deal with the deteriorating problem.

In reality, the government has recently recommended using voluntary guidelines

to ameliorate the current situation. What the government suggested include

installing timer switches, choosing energy-saving devices, and turning off lights after

business hours (Wong, 2012). Nonetheless, the guidelines are just implemented on a

voluntary basis and the shop owners can choose not to follow the guidelines so this

measure is not effective. Better solutions should be adopted with a view to

alleviating the problem of light pollution.

To solve the problem, the government can consider enacting legislation as the

first choice because it can ensure that all citizens comply with the law and takes

immediate action. Despite the fact that environmental groups keep urging the

government to set up laws to regulate the use of lights, no laws have been established

in Hong Kong yet for so many years. The government can indeed consider


legislation in three aspects: restriction on lighting hours, control of light intensity, and

control on lighting fixtures. First, the government can ban the use of unnecessary

lightings such as advertisements signs after 12 midnight. This is viable because it is

effectual in Japan, which also has a similar regulation (Legislative Council Secretariat,

2008). Second, the Hong Kong government can set up a particular level of light

intensity for all citizens to follow. In California, the outdoor lighting power must be

smaller than the allowed power as indicated in the 2007 California Energy Code as

well as the 2008 Standards (Legislative Council Secretariat, 2008). We may draw on

the successful experience of California and control the intensity of lights. Third, the

government can have a tighter regulation of lighting fixtures by requiring all of them

to be energy efficient and at the same time banning all searchlights or laser beam in

advertisement lightings. In addition, according to a recent research study, the night

vision and human’s health are more impaired by lamps with a strong blue emission,

like Metal Halide and white LEDs (Falchi, Cinzano, Elvidge, Keith, & Haim, 2011).

The government can also restrict the use of lamps with short wavelength blue light,

and presumably this can minimize the effects of light pollution

Besides legislation, stepping up the enforcement of the law is of fundamental

importance. The government can take setting up an independent department into

account so as to handle the complaints about light nuisance from citizens and

prosecute offenders. Similar to that in the UK, a certain period of time of

imprisonment or a fine high enough that can act as a deterrent should also be used as a

punishment for offenders (Legislative Council Secretariat, 2008).

Finally, education is another possible means that we can also think of when

coping with the problem of light pollution. In particular, the government and


environmental groups can organise more programmes to inform the public about the

gravity of light pollution. There are various positive examples all over the world

such as “Flex your power” in California in 2001. During this activity, citizens

developed a habit of turning off lights when not in use and the energy consumption

that year in California really dropped significantly by 56 trillion watts (朱漢強、陳曉

蕾，2008). Other examples like Die helle Not’ in Austria in 2003 (McDonnell et al.,

2009), ‘Night blight!’ in England in 2003 (McDonnell et al., 2009) and ‘Earth Hour’

every year all over the world also manifested the effectiveness of education. If more

educational campaigns can be taken place in Hong Kong, citizens can understand

more about the problem of light pollution and participate more actively to help

mitigating light pollution in the city.

To conclude, solving the problem of light pollution brooks no delay due to its

adverse impacts and the worsening situation. At the same time, as the problem of

light pollution in Hong Kong is much more complicated than in other countries due to

the high density of population and the mixing of residential and commercial areas, we

could not rely merely on others’ experience. The government ought to consider

more feasible solutions to cope with light pollution in the future such as better urban

planning. Also, self-discipline is also of the utmost importance. Hopefully, the

government, citizens, environmental groups, and all other stakeholders can cooperate

with each other so that light pollution can really be solved in Hong Kong in the

foreseeable future.


References

Falchi, F., Cinzano, P., Elvidge, C. D., Keith, D. M., & Haim, A. (2011). Limiting the

impact of light pollution on human health, environment and stellar visibility.

Journal of Environmental Management, 92(10), 2714–2722.

Hong Kong’s Information Services Department. (2010). LCQ17: Light pollution.

Retrieved from

http://www.info.gov.hk/gia/general/201011/03/P201011030131.htm

International Dark-Sky Association [IDA]. (n.d.). Light Pollution and the Natural

Night. Retrieved from http://www.darksky.org/about-ida/faqs

Legislative Council Secretariat. (2008). Light pollution and the regulation of outdoor

lighting in selected places. Retrieved from

http://www.legco.gov.hk/yr08-09/english/sec/library/0809in08-e.pdf

McDonnell, M. J., Hahs, A. K., & Breuste, J. H. (Eds). (2009). Ecology of cities and

towns: A comparative approach. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Navara, K. J., & Nelson, R. J. (2007). The dark side of light at night: physiological,

epidemiological, and ecological consequences. Journal of Pineal Research, 43(3),

215–224.

Rich, C., & Longcore, T. (Eds). (2006). Ecological consequences of artificial night

lighting. Washington, DC: Island Press.


West, L. (n.d.). Light pollution raises risks of breast cancer. Retrieved from

http://environment.about.com/od/pollution/a/light_pollution.htm

Wong, O. (2012, January 27). Advice on cutting light pollution ‘not that bright’. South

China Morning Post, pp. C1.

朱漢強、陳曉蕾. (2008). 夠照 [Gou Zhou]. 香港 : 天窗出版.

Documents

Sample3 Light Pollution