Olympics pollution fear as China invites world to Games

Olympics pollution fear as China invites world to Games

http://www.reuters.com/article/environmentNews/idUSPEK37286220070808?feedType=RSS

Wed Aug 8, 2007 10:06AM EDT
By Nick Mulvenney

BEIJING (Reuters) - A proud China invited the world to the 2008 Beijing Olympics on Wednesday with a dazzling song-and-dance and fireworks display, but cheers and shouts of 10,000 beaming citizens could not mask fears about pollution.

The crowds gathered on the vast Tiananmen Square, overlooked by a giant portrait of Mao Zedong, the founder of Communist China, in front of a brightly lit Gate of Heavenly Peace, exactly a year before the Games begin.

Police, some with sniffer dogs, had to force back the hundreds who milled around the edges hoping to get a glance of the festivities, watched by Chinese leaders and International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge.

The most intensely scrutinized preparations for any Games in Olympic history has brought forth a barrage of criticism for China this week on issues such as human rights, press freedom, pollution, food safety and Tibet.

"We welcome athletes, coaches, officials, spectators and journalists to participate in, observe and report the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games," parliament chief Wu Bangguo told the crowd.

Rights groups have accused China of failing to live up to promises of press freedom made when they were awarded the Games in 2001. Six Westerners were still detained a day after unfurling a banner reading "One World, One Dream, Free Tibet" at the Great Wall, the Free Tibet Campaign said in a statement.

China is often criticized for its harsh rule of the Himalayan region it occupied in 1950.

"The world is watching China and Beijing with great expectation," Rogge said. "Athletes also have great expectations and they are all looking forward to competing in the state-of-the-art Beijing venues.

"Beijing and China will not only host a successful Games for the world's premier athletes, but will also provide an excellent opportunity to discover China, its history, its culture and its people with China opening itself to the world in new ways."

He earlier said that some competitions might have to be moved if continuing efforts by organizers to clean up the city's notoriously smoggy air were unsuccessful. "This is an option," he told CNN.

Beijing Communist Party chief and president of the 2008 organizers Liu Qi said Beijing would ensure a safe Games.

"We will ... continually strengthen security measures, improve the city environment and set a solid foundation for a high-level Olympics."

STRAINING CROWDS

China finally got its chance to express its pride in the most important sporting and cultural event ever held in the country. Celebrations included 2,008 girls playing the zheng, a plucked instrument similar to the zither, in the east city of Yangzhou.

More than a million Beijingers made their way to the city's parks as sunshine broke through the smog for the first time this week. Security was tight as uninvited guests strained to get into Tiananmen Square, where troops crushed pro-democracy demonstrations in 1989 with huge loss of life.

In the end, police brought in reinforcements to keep the crowds back as arc lamps pierced the light haze above and everybody who was anybody in Chinese pop music wowed the crowds.

Zhou Guowei, from the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, tried to get through with his family, but in the end opted for watching the show on television back in his hotel room.

"It looks like my heartfelt wish has come to nothing," he said.

One pensioner, wiping make-up from her face after taking part in a display of traditional folk dancing in a Beijing park, said she was very happy.

"Thirty years ago, we would never have thought that we could host such an event," she said. "China was not strong enough to host the Olympics, but now we are."

Questions about pollution were answered by some with a shrug and the assurance that "it's much better than it used to be".

Censorship has ensured that most people are unaware of critical human rights reports, many of which say China has failed to live up to its promises on press freedom.

Not everybody in the city was wrapped up in the one-year countdown, however. Wang Jingjing, an eight-year-old newly arrived in the capital from a rural part of neighboring Hebei, said she had never heard of the Olympics.

And in the Indian capital of New Delhi, thousands of Tibetans marched through the streets, shouting slogans and waving flags in protest against China's actions in Tibet.

(Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard, Chris Buckley, Ian Ransom and Liu Zhen)

Just as Beijing officials did when the olympic commitee was visiting the Beijing as a "candidate" city, they'll stop the factory, stop the car traffic days before the competition. Another news just say they also garantee good weather by chasing the clouds! Beijing 2008 Olympics sky will be fresh and clean!!!

Welcome to the board and thanks for contributing!

I agree that they will try.  However, I am not very optimistic that they will succeed.  I expect some very interesting stories from the games.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/09/2007 08:07PM by regli.

Here is an article articulating the worries of the teams involved.  It definitely will be interesting and not just from a sports perspective.


Beijing Smog Forces Olympic Teams to Prepare for Asthma Attacks

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=aIcWChG_Toxg&refer=asia

By Wing-Gar Cheng and Grant Clark


Construction takes place on the National Olympic Stadium Aug. 8 (Bloomberg) -- Gunn-Rita Dahle got a taste of Beijing's smog at a race last year that left her fretting over the defense of her Olympic mountain-biking title.

``It's probably the most polluted place I've ever competed,'' says the 34-year-old Norwegian. ``Your mouth and throat dry up because of the dust. It's not good for the system.''

While the Chinese government is spending $13 billion to clear the air in time for the 2008 Olympics, national teams are preparing for the worst. The U.S. plans to base its athletes in Korea, and the Australian team will be accompanied by an asthma doctor for the first time. The games begin one year from today.

``There is nothing we can do to stop the pollution or improve the air quality, but we can be prepared for the effects of it,'' says Juan Manuel Alonso, medical director of Spain's Olympic track and field team. ``We have to make sure the first aid box is well-stocked.''

Air pollution is choking Beijing as economic growth of 10 percent a year drives a building boom and increases demand for cars. Construction spending increased 13 percent last year, and new car sales jumped sixfold in the past five years, according to government statistics.

The U.S., which won the most medals in each of the past three Olympics, will base athletes in South Korea, 75 minutes away by plane, so they spend as little time as possible in Beijing, says Randy Wilber, senior sports physiologist for the U.S. Olympic Committee.

Parachuting In

Most U.K. athletes will stay in Macau, 2,200 kilometers (1,365 miles) to the south, says Marco Cardinale, a doctor for the British Olympic Association.

``You don't want to acclimatize to air pollution, you want to avoid it as much as possible before you compete,'' Wilber says. ``Some of our strategies and equipment are, quite frankly, top secret.''

Beijing's air contains the second-highest level of tiny particles that can trigger asthma attacks, according to a ranking of 20 Asian cities in the United Nations Environment Program's 2006 Year Book. Only New Delhi had worse air quality.

In 2005, Beijing's air contained an average of 145 micrograms of particles per cubic meter, almost three times the World Health Organization's recommended maximum, according to the State Environmental Protection Agency.

Concerns about air pollution also clouded the buildup to the 2004 Athens games, only for the event to go ahead without mishap. Particulate levels in Maroussi, where many events were held, breached the WHO standard on 47 days in the Olympic year.

Beijing Optimism

Beijing officials say pollution is manageable. In a trial run to cut vehicular emissions, the city may take 1 million cars off the road for two weeks this month. Beijing's biggest steel plant will move out of the city before the games, and builders will be asked to stop work during the event.

``We've invested vast sums of money over the past few years to tackle the issue,'' says Deputy Mayor Ji Lin. ``Although some problems still exist, the conditions are improving.''

The city targets 245 ``clean-air days'' in 2008, compared with 241 in 2006 and 100 in 1998. Still, the Chinese threshold for particulate matter is three times higher than WHO guidelines.

Endurance events such as cycling may be postponed if pollution levels are too high during the games, said International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge, speaking on Cable News Network on Aug. 7.

``We are going to put the athletes first, we'll have contingency plans,'' Rogge said.

Endurance athletes such as runners and cyclists are pre- disposed to asthma because heavy training damages their airways, says Karen Holzer, an asthma specialist who will travel with the Australian team.

Seconds From Glory

About 27 percent of U.S. athletes at previous Olympics suffered from respiratory problems, and the incidence will be higher in Beijing, Wilber says. In response, all American competitors will get facemasks and have lung tests to see if they need asthma drugs.

``It's all about identifying athletes who are at risk with asthma and making sure they have strategies in place to minimize the impact of pollution on their airways,'' Holzer says. ``Mild asthma results in a drop in lung function of about 10 percent.''

Such margins may be the difference between winning gold and sporting oblivion. Just 11 seconds separated the first two places in the 2004 women's marathon.

Pollution also threatens athletes' performance in other ways. Sinus, throat and nose problems suffered by water polo players and track and field athletes at last year's World Junior Games in Beijing were probably the result of bad air, says Peter Baquie, Australia's chief team doctor.

Dahle, the Olympic mountain-biking champion, says she plans to stay in Beijing for the shortest time possible. She rues the decision to award the games to Beijing.

``I'll minimize the amount of time spent in the city and will stay as much as possible inside the hotel,'' Dahle says. ``There would have been many far better alternatives than Beijing. It goes against all common sense when it comes to doing sports.''

Based on what I was able to find, there is definitely a difference.  However, Seoul is bad as well by itself and quite ofen air quality in Korea is made significantly worse by airflow from China.

This paper provides an incredible illustration:

http://fire.biol.wwu.edu/trent/alles/AirPollution.pdf


Check out page 27 for a good overall picture.

Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 08/10/2007 11:25PM by regli.