Tenth installment of the New York Times’ environmental series Choking on Growth [Image: Beijing traffic via nytimes.com]:
Every day, monitoring stations across the city measure air pollution to determine if the skies above this national capital can officially be designated blue. It is not an act of whimsy: with Beijing preparing to play host to the 2008 Olympic Games, the official Blue Sky ratings are the measuring stick for whether the city’s polluted air will be clean enough for the competition.
Thursday did not bring good news. The gray, acrid skies rated an eye-popping 421 on a scale of 500, with 500 being the worst. Friday rated a 500. Both days far exceeded levels of pollutants deemed safe by the World Health Organization. In Beijing, officials warned residents to stay indoors until Saturday, but residents here are accustomed to breathing foul air. One man flew a kite in Tiananmen Square. [Full Text]
