Duststorms usually hit Beiing in the Spring time, I had one last year.
Quite an experience.
On Aug 7, 7:41Â pm, James
hotmail.com> wrote:> On Aug 7, 5:33Â pm, "abianc...@
my-deja.com"
my-deja.com>
> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>>> Air pollution shrouds Beijing on eve of Olympics
>> By TINI TRAN – 6 hours ago
>
>> BEIJING (AP) — The wall of gray haze around the National Stadium and
>> across the city cut visibility down to a mile. On the eve of opening
>> ceremonies, Beijing's polluted air took center stage Thursday as the
>> most visibly pressing problem for Olympic organizers who had promised
>> to clean up the Chinese capital.
>
>> Despite China's enormous attempts to improve the air quality in the
>> run-up to the Summer Games, the stubbornly thick haze that covered the
>> city illustrated how difficult and elusive a target clear skies can
>> be. In the end, it will come down to the wild card of weather: rain
>> and wind.
>
>> "I hoped that the measures could have more effect than they had in the
>> last week," said Zhu Tong, an associate professor at Peking
>> University's College of Environmental Science and Engineering who has
>> been advising the government on pollution issues.
>
>> "Unfortunately, we had meteorological conditions that weren't good for
>> clearing up the sky. So the stagnant air in Beijing has helped
>> pollutants accumulate. I really hope in the next couple weeks, we'll
>> have conditions that will help us clear up the sky."
>
>> The forecast for Friday, the official opening ceremony for the games,
>> was overcast skies with a slight chance of showers in the afternoon,
>> China's meteorological agency said. But relief may come by the
>> weekend, with a prediction of moderate rain that could help wash out
>> pollutants.
>
>> On Thursday, Beijing's air pollution index was recorded at 96, which
>> came close to exceeding the national level for acceptable air. Levels
>> between 51-100 are considered moderate pollution, and anything over
>> 100 is harmful to sensitive groups, including children and the
>> elderly.
>
>> The Associated Press has been compiling its own pollution data since
>> mid-July, recording snapshot readings of Beijing's worst pollutant —
>> tiny dust particles known as particulate matter 10.
>
>> The independent spot checks collected from the Olympic Green, the main
>> sports thoroughfare, showed that, even though there are dramatic ups
>> and downs, PM 10 concentrations were often much higher than what the
>> World Health Organization considers healthy. On Friday, AP readings
>> showed a PM 10 concentration of 373 micrograms per cubic meter — far
>> above the WHO guidelines for healthy air of 50 micrograms per cubic
>> meter.
>
>> The notoriously dirty air in this megacity of 17 million has been a
>> leading concern since Beijing won the bid for the Olympics in 2001.
>> China has poured 140 billion yuan — $20 billion — into "greening" the
>> city, including doubling the number of subway lines, retrofitting
>> factories with cleaner technology and building urban parks. But
>> environmental efforts have often been outpaced by constant
>> construction and increased traffic.
>
>> To help ensure clean air for the Olympics, Beijing officials imposed
>> drastic measures in mid-July, including pulling half the city's 3.3
>> million vehicles off the roads, halting most construction and closing
>> dozens of factories.
>
>> Environmental officials say the measures are having an impact, noting
>> a 20 percent drop in major pollutants in July, compared with the same
>> time last year. However, it's clear the sweeping measures have failed
>> to guarantee the crystalline skies China hoped to showcase. Instead,
>> the past three weeks have been marked by extremes — going from pea
>> soup haze to swirling blue skies, often after strong winds or a
>> downpour.
>
>> Athletes participating in the Aug. 8-24 games have raised concerns
>> from the start about the impact of the city's pollution on their
>> health and their performance, with many choosing to train outside of
>> Beijing.
>
>> Those concerns were again highlighted when four members of the U.S.
>> cycling team wore face masks as they walked off the airplane when they
>> arrived this week. They later apologized.
>
>> International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge praised China
>> on Thursday for doing everything "feasible and humanly possible" to
>> combat air pollution, and said conditions will be safe for athletes to
>> compete.
>
>> Rogge reiterated that outdoor endurance events, such as the marathon,
>> could be postponed or rescheduled if smog levels are too high. The IOC
>> will monitor the air quality on an hourly basis at 21 reporting
>> stations and receive 72-hour weather forecasts. Heat and humidity
>> could also be a factor during the games.
>
>> Despite the concerns by athletes, there is little evidence that they
>> or other short-term visitors would suffer long-term health damage
>> because of pollution levels in Beijing, said Hans Troedsson, the head
>> of the World Health Organization in China.
>
>> Instead, the group facing the biggest risks from pollution are the
>> city's residents, he said. Long-term exposure to air pollution means
>> increased chances of developing asthma, respiratory disease and heart
>> disease, he said.
>
>> "We have to remember that it's not short-term exposure that's of
>> concern, it's the long-term," he said. "For us, it's important to see
>> how these (environmental) efforts are sustained."
>
>> If China remains committed to continuing these measures in the long-
>> run, the result could be "a public health legacy after the Olympics,"
>> he said.
>
> Why are there so many factories in Beijing when they know there's a
> air quality problem? Â Hasn't there always been dust blowing in from
> the Gobi?- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
