If there's one good thing about the pollution in Beijing it shows, when people decide to do something about pollution - meaning addressing it and reversing it - the problems turn out to be far more difficult than anticipated. And we have to rely on nature to clear up our mess, which is exactly why nature is in the mess that it is.
What's also apparent is how an entire nation (and government) can lie about something as simple as air quality, in order to attract/secure the economic benefit and prestige of hosting such an event. And when athletes are sick and the city remains in a haze, what benefit then is there for pulling a haze over everyone's eyes? Well, there is a benefit. A few stakeholders get rich, at a giant cost to the participants. The worldwide audience also comes away with a jaundiced view. But the stadium builders walk away with bags of money. This is the world we live in. A few kidnapping the interests of the many, but at a great cost, ultimately, to all.
On most days, Beijing's air clearly remains poor, rarely dropping below 50 micrograms of particulate matter per cubic meter of air. The World Health Organization considers any concentration of particulate higher than 50 to be unhealthy. While the BBC sensor has a large margin of error (20 percent), on most days the readings have been far above thethreshold. The pollution levels have been clearly reflected in daily photographs taken from the same location by the news agency's reporters.
But the city's air quality has not varied in response to the city's anti-smog efforts, according to the BBC's readings. Pollution levels are changing, however, but only in response with meteorological conditions, i.e. rain. That's exactly what University of Rhode Island professor Kenneth Rahn predicted would happen in a Wired.com story last month.
"They are trying every conceivable thing and that is the right approach," Rahn said. "But when the air is worst in Beijing, it's the hardest to control."
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