http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/23/AR2008012303954_pf.html

1/24/2008 9:08:29 AM

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1/24/2008 9:29:05 AM

^ but interesting

1/24/2008 9:30:03 AM

1/24/2008 9:44:03 AM

It's a real embarrassment for China. Given how they've blown these Olympic games up to be their nation's "coming of age" celebration, their return to the status of great powers, to have even their own athletes barely able to compete due to severe air pollution makes Beijing look bad.

1/24/2008 10:21:04 AM

The air is not that bad, I been to Beijing before, I mean unless you have lung conditions, I think you be alrite by arriving couple weeks early and adjust to it...

1/24/2008 10:22:45 AM

1/24/2008 11:19:42 AM

Well it would be like having the Olympics in LA. I'm sure people would have the same issues. Most major cities have these issues.

1/24/2008 11:20:36 AM

it would be like having the olympics in atlanta in the middle of the summer

1/24/2008 11:47:02 AM

Atlanta is actually pretty good for a big city, air-wise.

1/24/2008 11:51:17 AM

Is america really pointing the finger at someone else for polluting our planet? really?

America does twice as much as China.

1/24/2008 12:22:10 PM

wat?

1/24/2008 12:24:25 PM

woh?

1/24/2008 12:25:18 PM

I read a few estimates that China overtook America as the world's leading polluter last year.

1/24/2008 12:36:06 PM

They are, they're also exempt from the Kyoto Accords, which is why we shouldn't sign the damn thing.

1/24/2008 12:39:17 PM

look another douchebag making claims about a country he cant stand yet he continues to live here

1/24/2008 12:48:56 PM

Just for reference:

1/24/2008 12:57:17 PM

Quote :

"Is america really pointing the finger at someone else for polluting our planet? really? America does twice as much as China."

You sir, are an idiot. Not only do they pollute more, but their methods of pollution are FAR more harmful to the micro-environment than ours. CO2 emissions are bullshit numbers that dont mean much of anything, its the dumping of toxic chemicals into groundwater, heavy metal dumping, et al that cause the real damage.

1/24/2008 9:33:23 PM

No thanks.

1/24/2008 10:34:33 PM

On top of the horrible air pollution, Beijing is compounded by the Gobi Desert sands which blow out of the desert and flows over China and the Korean peninsula. Its serious enough that when it blows, people have to cover their faces so they don't choke on sand.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,3-1605459,00.html

1/25/2008 12:28:19 PM

One thing that I've noticed in third world countries is the high percentage of personal vehicles with 2-stroke engines that burn nearly as much oil as they do gasoline. In India the vast majority of vehicles were scooters or 3-wheeled taxis with 2-strokes. The volume of such vehicles in an urban environment creates a great deal of smog. In eastern Europe a few years back there was actually a government funded push to buy back Soviet-era Trabants and force people to use 4-stroke cars.

1/25/2008 12:38:26 PM

Quote :

"CO2 emissions are bullshit numbers that dont mean much of anything, its the dumping of toxic chemicals into groundwater, heavy metal dumping, et al that cause the real damage"

thank you!

1/25/2008 1:21:26 PM