Beijinging: Polluted Air (Made in China)
5/30/2008 at 11:17 AM
Tags: Beijing Olympics, 2008 Olympics, Beijing Olympics 2008, Beijinging, Beijing Field Trip (all tags)
Our own femme fatale, Monica Guy, has the pre-Olympics buzz from Beijing for us this week.
If you want blue skies in your Beijing holiday snaps, invest in Photoshop. If you want to blow your nose in the city and not turn your hankies black, wear a mask. And if you want clean air, take an oxygen tank.
Drastic measures, sure, but they're just some of those being contemplated by Olympic athletes and their hangers-on this summer. Other cities are capitals of culture or cuisine; Beijing has well earned its title of Air Pollution Capital of the World.
According to a study by the Chinese Academy on Environmental Planning, 411,000 people died prematurely in one year on account of air pollution in urban China, particularly Beijing. And that's just the official figure.
Satellite data from the European Space Agency show that Beijing and the northeast provinces have the world's worst levels of nitrogen dioxide and that pollutants in the sky over China have increased by 50 percent in the last ten years. They're set to quadruple within another 15.
Why? Some more stats: In five years, the number of cars clogging Beijing's streets each day has rocketed from about one million to roughly three million. But it's not just fumes that are in the air: China uses up more than half of the world's cement, and the country spends a lot of its time knocking buildings down before putting them up. Particles of dust from soil, coal, cement and asbestos are everywhere.
The short-term solution, says the government, is to order as many cars as possible off the streets of Beijing this summer, from July 17 until the end of the Paralympic Games. Vehicles will be banned on alternate days depending on license plate number. They tried a dress rehearsal last summer and got about a third of drivers to stay away, which only made the other two-thirds yip in glee that they could move a shade faster.
But even if some cars are kept away, will the fumes obey the orders? We envision great big fans set in place to blast the crap into neighboring provinces or huge vacuum cleaners scooping up dirt and filtering out soot and dust.
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Jacques Rogge, claims to be "very confident" that the pollution will be cleared in time. But he admits that a couple of the endurance events may have to be postponed. Confidence indeed!
Athletes are coming up with their own measures. Deena Kastor, America's marathon-running phenomenon, claims she'll wear a surgical mask around town. During the Athens Olympics she stayed on Crete before flying in at the last minute for the marathon. If you think it's polluted in Greece, girl, prepare yourself for Beijing.
Related Stories:
· Monica Guy's Beijing Field Trip [Jaunted]
· Beijing coverage [Jaunted]
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