XN000022-1975-04-10 — Page 4

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THURSDAY, APRIL 10, 1975

STUDENTS TO STUDY EFFECTS OF AIR POLLUTION

ON RAIN X X X

IS POLLUTION IN HONG KONG MAKING RAIN ACID?

THIS IS WHAT THOUSANDS OF STUDENTS FROM NEARLY 240 SCHOOLS WILL BE TRYING TO FIND OUT IN A COLONY-WIDE SURVEY JOINTLY ORGANISED DY THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT, AND THE CONSERVANCY ASSOCIATION HI COLLABORATION WITH THE ROYAL OBSERVATORY AND THE LABOUR DEPARTMENT,

THE SURVEY, CALLED 'ACID RAIN AND OTHER AIR POLLUTION PROJECTS, IS THE SECOND PART OF A WIDER STUDY ON PURE AIR' AND WILL FOCUS ON THE EXTENT TO WHICH AIR POLLUTION IN ONE DISTRICT AFFECTS THE SURROUNDING AREAS AND HONG KONG AS A WHOLE.

THIS WILL BE THE FIRST TIME SUCH A STUDY WILL BE CARRIED OUT IN HONG KONG. IN THE UNITED STATES, A SIMILAR SURVEY WAS CONDUCTED ABOUT A YEAR AGO BY 16,000 STUDENTS AND THE RESULTS ENADIED SCIENTISTS TO MAP OUT POLLUTION OVER THE WHOLE COUNTRY - SOMETHING THAT HAD NEVER BEEN DONE BEFORE.

A SPOKESMAN FOR THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT WAS CONFIDENT THAT HONG KONG STUDENTS COULD PRODUCE EQUALLY INTERESTING AND HELPFUL INFORMATION WHICH COULD BE OF IMPORTANCE TO VARIOUS GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENTS AND PRIVATE ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED IN FIGHTING AIR POLLUTION.

TO LAUNCH THE SURVEY, A SEMİNAR WILL BE HELD THIS SATURDAY (APRIL 12) AT THE KOWLOON TRUE LIGHT GIRLS' COLLEGE WHERE SCHOOL TEAMS WILL BE BRIEFED DY EXPERTS AND OBTAIN INFORMATION ON HOW TO CONDUCT THE SURVEY AND PREPARE THEIR REPORTS.

THE SEMINAR WILL BE OPENED BY MR. ARTHUR BROWN, ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT. SPEAKERS WILL INCLUDE MR. MICHAEL WEBSTER, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE CONSERVANCY ASSOCIATION AND DR. BETH GOTT, VICE-CHAIRMAN OF THE ASSOCIATION, WHO WILL GIVE AN ILLUSTRATED TALK ON THE ORGANISATION AND CONDUCT OF THE SURVEY.

FINANCIAL SUPPORT IS BEING GIVEN BY RANK XEROX LTD. WHICH HAS IMPORTED SPECIAL ACID MEASURING PAPER FROM THE UNITED STATES FOR PARTICIPATING STUDENTS TO CONDUCT THEIR TESTS AS ACCURATELY AS POSSIBLE.

DURING THE SURVEY. SCHOOL TEAMS WILL BE REQUIRED TO COLLECT AND MEASURE RAIN FALL FOR SEVEN CONSECUTIVE DAYS AND TEST THE ACIDITY OF THE RAIN, THEY WILL RECORD THE DATA COLLECTED AND SUBMIT THEM TO THE CONSERVANCY ASSOCIATION WHICH WILL ANALYSE THE DATA AND COMPILE A REPORT WHICH IS TO BE PUBLISHED LATER ON.

THE SPOKESMAN