Have you seen the smog in Beijing, China?

[serryjw]

How the hell are athletes going to train and compete?



quote..........
Globally, China is home to 16 of the 20 cities with the most polluted air. Roughly one-third of the nation’s land area is exposed to acid rain, just one of the many environmental side effects of the 2.1 billion tons of coal produced and burned there last year. Acidification now affects some 30 percent of China’s cropland, and the estimated damage to farms, forests, and human health is US $13 billion, according to the Worldwatch Institute’s State of the World 2006 report. Ozone, a pollutant formed from the incomplete combustion of fossil fuels, is threatening crop yields as well. A study by the Atlanta-based Georgia Institute of Technology showed that the range of ozone exposure in agricultural regions in the Yangtze River Delta and Hong Kong Island is enough to reduce yields by 10 percent or more.

Air pollution is not just a matter of aesthetics, but increasingly one of life and death. While smog-obscured skylines grab the headlines, the lingering consequence of deteriorating air quality has been a rise in serious health problems and premature deaths. Worldwide, short- and long-term exposure to air pollution has been associated with a variety of adverse health effects, including acute respiratory inflammation, asthma, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. An estimated 200 Chinese cities fall short of WHO standards for the airborne particulates that are responsible for respiratory diseases.

A recent study by a Chinese research institute found that 400,000 premature deaths are caused every year in China by diseases linked to air pollution.
end quote.......

http://www.worldwatch.org/features/chinawatch/stories/20060214-1

[Adelante]

1. Goodness

It looks much, much, much worse than Mexico City.

[Deja Q]

2. Do you think they'll be responsible and spend the money for environmental

change?

:rofl:

[Mind_your_head]

3. I have pictures from just 13 years ago where the streets of Beijing

were 'just the opposite'....bicyclists were the majority and cars were the 'nuisance'....quite the 'progress', hence a large reason for the smog I would suspect.

I want to add that, back then...not so long-ago, Chinese ppl were pedaling with refrigerators and mattresses and all sorts of 'anything' you can imagine on their bikes....it was AMAZING.

Does 'progress' mean environmental destruction? If so, as we reach the 'tipping-point', is that really 'progress' at all????

I really don't know what to say anymore....

[serryjw]

5. Sadly.....Yes!

I saw a news item on TV yesterday that Chinese are buying HUMMERS! F*CK globalization. I can understands to want to have a refrigerator and in door plumbing BUT China will help destroy this planet is 'progress' continues.

[Mind_your_head]

8. I don't want to put all the blame on China.....

...they just became convinced that after 6,000 years of their own progress (which was quite remarkable) that they should become 'westernized'.

Who has been the leader/'definer' of 'westernization? Now everyone is following like 'lemmings off of a cliff' it seems. :cry:

M_Y_H

[serryjw]

10. No doubt we are the most guilty

They have over 4X the population.......sadly, they can catch up that much quicker to the planet's destruction :cry:

[Poppyseedman]

4. Thank God they signed the Kyoto Treaty

:sarcasm:

[Deja Q]

6. People can sign what they want. It's their actions that mean more.

[Elwood P Dowd]

13. Isn't China is exempt from most of that?

Along with India, Mexico, and several other developing nations.

[Poppyseedman]

19. Yes, that why the treaty is basically meaningless.

In theory Kyoto is a great idea.

If people ever actually read the thing, they might figure out why the USA and Australia isn't going to sign it.

[tom_paine]

7. Totalitarian Nations are noted for their environmental abuses

How long before Imperial Amerika, now that it has gone to the Dark Side with Putin & the ChiComs, sees similar effects.

Depends on how quick the Imperial Family, and whatever toady they choose to warm the throne between Emperors George and Jeb, decide to move.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

9. That's horrifying

Did you read the link off of that page?

HONG KONG — Twenty-two people were taken to hospital and two of them were in critical condition after taking part in Hong Kong's biggest marathon amid the worst air pollution levels in months, the government said on Monday.

A record 40,000 people took part in Sunday's Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon and many complained of the thick smog which obscured the Tsing Ma Bridge, a key landmark along the route of the annual race.

Of the two runners in critical condition, one collapsed near the finish in Wanchai district, an area where the air pollution index (API) soared to nearly 150, the highest level since September 2005. The other collapsed not far from the Tsing Ma Bridge.

"They are still in critical condition," a government spokeswoman said.
http://enn.com/today.html?id=9870

I complain because I can no longer see the hills without their being a haze in the way most days (thanks to our ex-governor bush). What they have to deal with makes L.A. look like air quality heaven.

[serryjw]

11. No, thanks

How the hell were they ever awarded the games?

[Warpy]

12. That filthy air is causing smog in LA now

and China has lagged WAY behind current pollution standards on all those cars and motorbikes they're building there. Plus they have NO pollution standards for factories, and most of the population burns coal cakes for heat and cooking as the most economical fuel. No attempt is made to clean up the coal, it's just pulverized and pressed into cakes.

They're not exactly motivated to ensure the health of their population, either, since they have a massive population surplus and two generations of "one child" hasn't resulted in anything but a more modest increase.

They're losing arable land to pollution of soil and water. Maybe that will be the push they need to clean up the whole country. I sincerely hope so, they have the potential to smog up the planet.

[serryjw]

16. "causing smog in LA"?

I left LA in 1983 because the smog was so bad

[Warpy]

17. LA had a great deal of success cleaning up the worst of it

and the number of days of "unhealthful" air has decreased dramatically from the dirty 60s.

However, there's been a recent increase in smog and particulates, and this has been traced back across the Pacific to China.

[serryjw]

18. I remember when I was a kid

and we had 'smog days' that we couldn't go out side to play.....I also lived in the Valley

[Harald Ragnarsson]

14. Smoking should be outlawed. This is a travesty n/t

[u4ic]

15. There was a horrible sandstorm in Beijing

just a couple of days ago (Thursday or Friday). I wonder if the picture is from that?