Environment

Beijing smog levels remain high

by Rob Peters | August 4, 2008 at 09:45 am

821 views | 14 Recommendations | 6 comments

Photos

U.S. Olympic Committee is distributing a high-tech mask to its more than 600 Olympians

see larger image

uploaded by Milieunet

Despite drastic measures to curb pollution levels in Beijing--including a reduction of more than a million cars from city roads--smog levels there appear to be worse than ever, according to measurements taken by the BBC.

In fact the measurement taken for August 4 is the highest pollution recorded since early July, and is almost twice the WHO target for developing countries.

The IOC says some of the longer endurance events may have to be postponed if conditions don't improve.

Yikes.

According to data from Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, air quality on Monday was still considered a "blue sky day".

But the BBC’s own test found one major pollutant, particulate matter, was almost six times higher than the recommended level.

The World Health Organization’s target is 50 micrograms per cubic metre. But we recorded levels in Beijing at 292 micrograms on Monday.

The test was done at a time of day when many Olympic events will take place.

The International Olympic Committee has said endurance events lasting more than one hour could be delayed if the pollution is too bad.

But it remains unclear how bad the pollution has to be before an event is postponed.

Beijing has taken some drastic measures to improve the air quality for the Games.

Almost a third of Beijing’s 3.3 million cars have been taken off the city’s roads.

2 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend This comment thread is now closed

SF Cheers

at 12:31 on August 4th, 2008

This is an image taken on July 29th, 2008 while on the grounds of the Jietai Temple in the hills East of Beijing. It shows several sites of smog production which apparently were still active that day. One appears to be a coal fired electrical plant.

Apparently the Beijing officials fail to measure particulate count when they report the smog levels and say there is "blue sky".

Later that day we created for a new Martini recipe called the "Beijing Blue Sky"; a parody of the Chinese smog reports. It is made with Moutai, a Chinese herbal liquor (similar to gin), mixed with equal parts of Ouzo, the popular licorice flavored Greek drink in honor of the Olympics, and equal parts water. It is shaken with ice and and garnished with a red (a popular color in China) licorice stick. When shaken with ice, it becomes cloudy as the sky truly is on a Beijing "Blue Sky" day.

Cheers

Otis Paul

SF Cheers has contributed a photo to this story.