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Olympian risk: Pollution worries sky high as Beijing Games approach
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Wasatch front pollution levels? | 1:05 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
Is this story suggesting that pollution levels along the Wasatch front during
the 2002 Winter Olympics were comparable to those near Beijing for the upcoming
2008 Summer Olympics?
ER in AF | 4:54 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
I lived in Beijing for 2 years. You can feel the polution deep in your lungs.
I am confused by the article, one expert (Testa) said he doubted long-term
effects, then another (Kanner) is saying harm may not show up for 20 years. That
sounds long-term. Then the last one (Packham) says that there are risks of
permenent dames to the athletes lungs.
While in Beijing I was required to do a physical test every 3-4 months. My kids played on the Soccer and Rugby teams and always ran around during lunch playing football and such. You could tell for a few days with me, and the day of with the kids, when we did that type of exertion. Red face, wheezing and coughing. I do not envy the people doing 200 liters of air each minute through thier lungs(16 times normal).
BTW the picture of the bird's nest doesn't look too bad. There are many days from that distance that you could not see something that large.
While in Beijing I was required to do a physical test every 3-4 months. My kids played on the Soccer and Rugby teams and always ran around during lunch playing football and such. You could tell for a few days with me, and the day of with the kids, when we did that type of exertion. Red face, wheezing and coughing. I do not envy the people doing 200 liters of air each minute through thier lungs(16 times normal).
BTW the picture of the bird's nest doesn't look too bad. There are many days from that distance that you could not see something that large.
Comments continue below
Anon 808 | 5:09 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
I guess that they are just going to have to suck it up.
CP | 7:11 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
I think as the article suggested that if I were a trainer for these athletes
that I would make it mandatory for them to wear a facemask and not even show up
until the very min. the event is to begin. I'm sorry but I wouldn't
even show up at all - my health is more valuable then trying to win a medal to
go around my neck. And like it said the decision to participate is the decision
of the athlete - what's more important - your health or a few minutes of
"glory".
J | 7:18 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
Apparently members of the IOC were more interested in padding their pockets than
finding a place that would be safe for the athletes.
JB | 7:17 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
And the environmental wackos are upset because the United States won't sign
the Kyoto Accord? Why don't they go protest in China. The US may put out
more CO2 than China but at least it's spread around and not concentrated in
the largest cities. Oh, by the way, the US does know how to limit emissions,
but China and other 3rd world culprits have enough people to fill in for the
dead and dying so why care about the quality of human life.
Nothing to see here folks | 7:23 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
There's no world pollution problem, no global warming. As Bush says, just
keep spending and doing what you're doing, and everything will be fine.
Don't worry, be happy.
kathyn | 9:15 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
I was not even tempted to go to Beijing. (Of course, I couldn't afford it
anyway.) Besides the terrible pollution, it's a scary country.
To "Nothing to see here folks": How in the world is Bush responsible for the pollution in Beijing?
China, India and other large producers of CO 2 wouldn't be required to clean up their country's air because the Kyoto Treaty exempts them.
To "Nothing to see here folks": How in the world is Bush responsible for the pollution in Beijing?
China, India and other large producers of CO 2 wouldn't be required to clean up their country's air because the Kyoto Treaty exempts them.
Anonymous | 9:39 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
Everybody knows the Chinese are digging massive holes to throw all the
capitalists in during the games.
Axis of evil you know.
Axis of evil you know.
China Denizen | 9:48 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
We've lived here for over four years and can attest that the pollution is
just as bad as is reported. Yet, give credit where credit is due, the Chinese
are doing everything they possibly can to limit and reduce it. And, if nothing
else, its a lot easier to get around the city with half the cars off the roads.
Actually, the pollution over the weekend disapated to almost nothing, but
unfortunately (or on purpose), that wasn't the picture shared in this
article. But, like any large city, there are days when they cancel school
outdoor activities due to dangerous contaminent levels in the air. My colleague
rides his bike to work (14 miles each way) and can attest to which days are
bad--even with the mask. Certainly, the pollution is bad and a serious concern
for athletes, but if nothing else, the measures taken only prove that one
can't reduce the levels of pollution to nothing if they aren't
enforced and adopted in more than just this locale - one world one dream.....of
a pollution free olympics.
observer | 11:22 a.m. Aug. 4, 2008
What would life be if we didn't have something to worry about??
who chose this site???? | 12:07 p.m. Aug. 4, 2008
The Olympics should NOT be in China - period! The air is sooooo bad that the
athletes won't' be able to perform at a world class level and they
will undoubtedly suffer some form of respiratory illness during or after the
games. The politics of this event have ruined the entire experience for the
world.
RE: who chose this site et al. | 12:55 p.m. Aug. 4, 2008
Lets go a bit further. We should suspend the Olympics until the world is free
from pollution. It's not just China that is contributing to the destruction
of the World. Let us also remember that America is the biggest offender. This
story should demonstrate to all of you SUV lovers to ditch your ride for a bike,
or walk. The earth is dying and each day the earth is warming. Unless something
is done we will all die in a few years. The Olympics are evil and contribute to
the earth warming. Ban the Olympics and SUVs today.
more worries in China than this | 4:42 p.m. Aug. 4, 2008
China plans "Military options" against the US if 1.5 Trillion in Debt
is not paid?. China's economic bargaining chip?. Four years ago, when the
foreign-exchange reserves of China totaled about $450 billion and the value of
China's holdings of U.S. securities was about $300 billion, former Treasury
Secretary Lawrence Summers warned about the emergence of a global "balance
of financial terror." Mr. Summers and others worry that U.S. consumption
and investment levels are becoming dependent on "the discretionary
acts" of other governments. Foreign governments and investors are
accumulating huge pools of dollars by virtue of the massive trade deficits the
United States has been running. What these governments decide to do with their
rapidly growing dollar reserves could have a huge effect on the U.S. economy.
"There is surely something odd about the world's greatest power being
the world's greatest debtor," Mr. Summers told the audience gathered
at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington. It surely
cannot be prudent for us as a country to rely on a kind of balance of financial
terror that exists today, he said. MAD AT US TO?.
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Greg Baker, Associated Press
China's National Stadium, known as the Bird's Nest, is seen through pollution in Beijing on July 24. The Games begin Friday.
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Hey but at least that birds nest should do fine in an earthquake. Doesn't look dangerous at all.