Olympic Pollution Update: Beijing Shell Game

Update: Added articles from IEEE Spectrum, Olympics smog blog link, and today's Doonesbury.

A dispatch from the WaPo Foreign Service in today's carbon-based edition (A18, if you're keeping score at home) notes that In Cleanup Effort, Beijing Moved Factories to Clog Air Elsewhere.

Climate Progress points out that a cover package of four articles, a news item, "Will Beijing's Dirty Air Hurt Performance?", and an editorial (free access with registration) in last week's Science magazine on "China's Environmental Challenges", like most general media coverage, completely neglects the longer-term problem of greenhouse gas emissions and their effect on climate.

By contrast, however, IEEE Spectrum featured "China Doubles Wind Watts" in May:

Its fleet of wind turbines more than doubled in generating capacity in 2007, surging by over 3 gigawatts, according to the Global Wind Energy Council. That's less power capacity than China's coal sector adds per week, but it's enough to make China the third-fastest-growing wind market worldwide (behind the United States and Spain) and propel it to fifth place in the Global Wind Energy Council's annual capacity rankings (ahead of even wind-energy pioneer Denmark).

The June issue contained the article, "How to Build a Green City", about the plans for the development of Dongtan, "the world’s first eco-city" on an island off Shanghai.

A recent story by BBC News Magazine, "The filthy air conundrum", examines the tradeoffs between short-term pollution fixes and long-term solutions. It also contrasts the Beijing situation with the London Great Smog of 1952, which is estimated to have killed 4000 people. (A tip of the Rabett ears to the sly perfesser for pointing out the analogy to the late 19th century London pollution depicted in Monet's paintings. Now how about a listing in your blog roll, since the other Capital guys have virtually abandoned climate coverage for 24x7 local weather?)

Here's an interesting link from the smogo-blogosphere: The HoChro's Sports Update blog has a special archive section just for Olympics smog. Maybe it's to make Houston's oppressive heat and humidity seem more bearable?

Finally, check out Doonesbury's Daily Dose:


Upper image: Christies Images/Corbis via New Scientist magazine

Olympic Pollution Update

Today's WaPo sports section has a report from the scene on Beijing air quality and its effects on the athletes. Sally Jenkins draws some deeper connections from the pollution issue.

Last night's PBS NewsHour had an extensive report (audio, podcast, and video available online) on the causes and effects of the situation.

Olympics Pollution Watch: Contingency Plans Announced

Today's WaPo front page reports that Chinese officials have announced contingency plans in response to persistent pollution in Beijing:

On Thursday, the Ministry of Environmental Protection announced that officials would close 220 more factories, coal-fired power plants and steel plants in Beijing, as well as in nearby Tianjin city and surrounding Hebei province if air quality is forecast to be poor for any 48-hour period.

Beijing will also ban all forms of construction "if there is very unfavorable weather, and the air quality is forecast to not be up to standard for the next 48 hours," according to the ministry's Web site. Experts said they interpreted this to mean that the emergency plan would begin if Beijing's air pollution index, or API, was forecast to be 100 or more for two days in a row.

Reports also appear in NYTi and WSJ.

Olympian Heights of Air Pollution

As the pollution level reaches Code Orange here in Spin City on the Potomac, attention is shifting to the pervasive pollution of Beijing. With the Olympic opening ceremonies only 10 days away, reports indicate that attempts to reduce air pollution effects on the athletic competition are having limited effects.

In late June, Chinese officials announced plans to cut auto traffic in half with an odd-even driving schedule and to close polluting manufacturing plants. Despite these restrictions now being in effect, today's WSJ reports that pollution readings have exceeded government targets on 4 out of the last 8 days. The opening of the athletes' village on Sunday was marred by "pea-soup fog". Accompanying WSJ video notes that Beijing is not the only Chinese city contending with serious pollution problems.

If pollution levels remain high, more drastic measures may be implemented. Contingency plans call for reducing vehicle traffic by 90% and ordering further factory closings. China Daily reported yesterday that emergency measures, if required, would be announced with a 48-hour lead time.

Today's Morning Edition on NPR discussed the potential effects of pollution on athletes. Events which are most likely to be impacted are the outdoor endurance competitions, such as the triathlon, road cycling, mountain biking, race walking, and the swimming and running marathons.

Athletes are not the only ones at risk, however. Two researchers at Northwestern University's medical school have warned that breathing high levels of pollution can be very dangerous for spectators in certain risk groups. The effects can even extend into the plane ride home.

The latest Newsweek, out today, includes a column by science writer Sharon Begley analyzing the most controversial aspect of Beijing's attempts to control the Olympic atmosphere. In order to try to prevent rainfall from dampening the opening and closing ceremonies, a massive $100 million cloud seeding operation will be carried out by an army of 32,000 rainmakers. As Begley rightly notes, decades of experimentation with cloud seeding have failed to provide objective evidence that the technique is effective. The current official statement on weather modification by the American Meteorological Society, adopted in 1998, indicates that evidence of artificial rainfall enhancement is inconclusive at best.

The current Ministry of Environmental Protection pollution index reading of 90 for Beijing is slightly below the level of 100 considered serious by the government. The weather forecast for Wednesday calls for cloudy skies, light winds, and a temperature range of 23-31 °C.

Image, from Getty Images via Wall Street Journal: Smog in Beijing's Central Business District on Monday.