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Abstract
The human dimensions of visibility degradation remain under-researched academically. Based on Zube and Sell's Process Model of the Perception of, and Response to, Environmental Change, a questionnaire survey was conducted in Hong Kong between 5 June 2012 and 26 January 2013 (n = 1,203). The respondents’ perceptions towards visibility degradation were collected. The results show that respondents were moderately knowledgeable to visibility degradation, perceiving the problem as anthropogenic and unfavorable and identifying the fight against the degradation as an important environmental issue. It is further deduced that the respondents’ physical and sociocultural attributes, and the way they gain information about visibility degradation, can affect their perceptions of visibility degradation. The results reveal that improving information channels can positively promote human sensitivity to and understanding of visibility degradation in order to mitigate it. Yet, any attempts to educate the lay public should not assume the existence of a homogenous community of like-minded people.
Acknowledgements
This research was supported by the Hui Oi-Chow Trust Fund (201302172003 and 201502172003) and the Research Grants Council of The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (HKU758712H, HKU745113H, and HKU17610715). We also thank the Hong Kong Observatory officials in charge, for their generous cooperation in all matters related to their visibility data.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.