Air Pollution, Beijing, and the Olympics
There has been quite a bit of concern as to whether or not Beijing will have cleaned up its air in time for the 2008 Summer Olympics. There is some disagreement between air pollution agencies and the athletes about this. Beijing is working to improve its air quality before the Summer Games, and many organizations believe that China is making progress toward this goal. However, many athletes remain concerned about their health in the upcoming Olympics, due to the poor quality of Beijing's air. Some athletes would prefer to train in Hong Kong or Japan to avoid the air in Beijing for as long as possible, although Beijing has been working to reduce air pollution and is taking measures to ensure that the air will be breathable during the Games. This would include possibly shutting down polluting industries prior to the Games and heavily restricting traffic during the Games. However, may agencies fear that these will only be temporary fixes, and Beijing's overall air quality will not be much improved after the Olympics are over.
Current ideas for controlling air pollution in Beijing include restricting traffic by only allowing cars with license plates ending in an odd number to drive, alternating with the even numbered license plates every 4 days. There are 6500 police out monitoring this, with tickets at approximately $16. Here's a link to the CNN report:
http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/world/2007/08/17/itn.olympics.pollution.itn?iref=videosearch
This may help, but will not solve the problem. Also, by restricting traffic, a good public transit system in Beijing will be required.
Stay tuned for more efforts implemented by the EPA to clean up Beijing's air.
Comments
I think that it is interesting that the general public didn't really start hearing about the pollution problems in China until it became an international issue because of the Olympics. A problem of this magnitude didn't just appear over night, clearly it has been around for a while. It kind of leaves me wondering what will happen to the problem after to Olympics? Will China enact, keep, refine, or revoke actions to help improve the air quality?
Posted by: Carla Petrich | February 13, 2008 5:22 PM
What other controls will the government enact to clear the air? Will they shut down non-essential business for the month? Will they tell the citizens of Beijing to go on holiday and leave town?
Does Beijing have a mass transit system? I know so little about the City (or country).
Posted by: Steve Sternberg | February 15, 2008 4:19 PM
What are the residents of Beijing, saying about the air pollution in their city? Are there large protests and marches demanding clearer air similar to the US demonstrations decades ago? I have not seen any in the news. With the Olympics only six months away, government officials will be forced to clean up Beijing for a month or so. Then what, revert to their old ways? When the 15 million people of Beijing see the air quality of their city drastically increase during the Olympics, will they want to go back?
Posted by: Simon Larson | February 16, 2008 2:58 PM
My general question is how do the citizens of China feel about this issue? Steve said in class that now a days people (U.S) want two things: clean air and clean water. How has the Chinese nation allowed this to happen? I myself, as a U.S. citizen, would be disgusted to live in such a country. I agree with the other posters in that this is only temporary. The Chinese nation is growing too fast and there must be strict emission standards in place.
Posted by: Andrew Klym | February 18, 2008 12:45 PM
My general question is how do the citizens of China feel about this issue? Steve said in class that now a days people (U.S) want two things: clean air and clean water. How has the Chinese nation allowed this to happen? I myself, as a U.S. citizen, would be disgusted to live in such a country. I agree with the other posters in that this is only temporary. The Chinese nation is growing too fast and there must be strict emission standards in place.
Posted by: Andrew Klym | February 18, 2008 12:46 PM
I have visited Beijing and remember preparations for the Olympics being discussed (in 2001). I can recall a huge number of cabs with foul exhaust but also many people on bicycles. The city was filled with cranes - building construction projects everywhere. In the countryside east of Beijing, huge areas that were fields were being planted with some type of hybrid aspen or poplar trees. I assume this was to counteract co2 levels.
I had heard that the desert is encroaching upon Beijing so there are occasionally huge dust events.
Maybe having the Olympics will alert the world to what is happening there?
Posted by: Mike Nordin | February 19, 2008 12:46 AM
I would think that the attraction of the Olympics and sudden increase in population due to tourism would only increase the pollution due to traffic in the Beijing area an additional a quarter of a million people attending/participating could be adding a lot of additional air pollution directly adjacent to the Olympic grounds. Is China planning something to transport the people attending and participating to and from the Olympic grounds?
Posted by: Michael Claussen | February 24, 2008 3:16 PM
From what I've seen in news articles, China is working on implimenting permanent measures to clean up their air. However, in order to be ready for the Olympics in August, it looks like they're going to have to make some temporary changes.
Posted by: Laura Stranford | February 29, 2008 7:58 PM
What can be done by the Olympic Committee if there is insufficient reduction in pollution by the time of the games? There is a possibility that the city does not reduce population, but then what? Do the games go on without a hitch? Many things are resolved because people fear negative consequences. Are there any of these if nothing happens in China?
Posted by: Adam Clark | February 29, 2008 9:33 PM
Having lived in Beijing for the last 5 years I never once noticed any pollution. It is mostly geopolitical posturing.
Posted by: Beijing Tom | March 16, 2008 4:33 AM
I have a question for Beijing Tom - how do you define pollution? Do you have to see it for it to be real? You will never see the ozone, the SOx or NOx, yet they can still be a cause for concern. I find it hard to understand your statement - all big cities have air quality problems. Even cities the size of Duluth have issues for at least part of the year.
Yet I also am open to the idea that things there are not as bad as our media make it out. They are not trustworthy, and have been known to lie to fulfill someone's agenda. Did you live in a downtown area or outside of the city? Did you notice things were better / worse in different areas?
Posted by: Steve Sternberg | March 19, 2008 2:43 PM