Light pollution in Hong Kong is world’s worst

Study confirms HK the most light polluted city on Earth.

A two-year Hong Kong University study called “Hong Kong Night Sky Brightness Monitoring Network” finds light pollution in parts of Hong Kong to be 1,000 times above international standards. The study could find no other place in the world that was as light polluted as Hong Kong.

Developed by physicists at UHK, the study took more than five million night sky brightness measurements over a period of nearly three years. The study team said it now has the largest database on night sky brightness in the world.

Study leader Jason Pun Chun-shing said Hong Kong is an extremely densely populated place which is why the city has such a severe problem. He noted that unregulated lighting on buildings and the Hong Kong government's obsession with providing public safety had made the city world's biggest light trap.

"In Hong Kong, the government tends to play things on the safe side," he said. "I think some of it is simply overdoing it."

Pun said of particular concern was spotlighting that was directed at the sky to create a dramatic effect. Hong Kong has no laws controlling urban lighting.

Hong Kong's most light polluted place was the Hong Kong Space Museum at Tsim Sha Tsui that was more than 1,000 times brighter than international norms due to the large number of billboards and floodlights nearby.